Illuminated by a single spotlight, New Orleans musical royalty Jon Batiste sits at the piano on the Royal Festival Hall stage appearing as part of Little Simz’ curated Meltdown Festival. For one night only, this is his living room. “It’s just a piano, a microphone, and us,” he says, after opening his show with a haunting and elegiac rendition of his American Symphony.

Co-host of Channel 4’s feelgood hit The Piano, bandleader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and a recipient of multiple Grammy, Academy and Golden Globe awards for albums including We Are and Disney Pixar’s Soul, Batiste is both virtuoso and consummate entertainer, and radiates a light that is truly unique. Oh, and his tailoring tonight is immaculate.

He continues with “5th Symphony in Congo Square” from his recent release Beethoven Blues.

Batiste begins by stating the musical theme straight, before adding polyrhythms, cascading pentatonic runs and West African 6/8 time, expanding the form and demonstrating the possibilities of these 88 keys — which, lest we forget, are also a percussion instrument.

He does the same with “Für Elise”, blending classical and jazz with a soul that commands the room, before launching into jazz standards such as “When the Saints Go Marching In”, alongside his contributions to Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter — “American Requiem” and “Amen” — before segueing into his hit “Freedom”, which brings the house to its feet.

The second set brings a second suit, and a sequence of tunes acknowledging the genius of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, followed by nods to the likes of Tupac Shakur and Paul McCartney.

“You can take a melody home with you, you know,” Batiste offers, as we hum the refrain from his lullaby-like “Butterfly”. He closes by inviting his nephew up on stage to play bass, concluding a show as joyful, generous and rare as the maestro himself.

Cover Photo ©: Pete Woodhead