Jon Batiste - Salve Regina University - Commencement Address - May 21, 2017

sister Jane mr. Peter Davis senior lecturer and share the apartment of Music Theatre and dance will present to you mr. Jonathan Michael batiste come on up here's what I got Jonathan Michael batiste master of America's music and global ambassador for musical connections with charisma unique style and sturdy religious faith you have made a joyful noise unto the Lord and all humankind through performance study mentoring teaching and innovative research the child of a great musical family born in Kenner Louisiana in 1986 you were rocked in the cradle of jazz from infancy you were drumming in your uncle's band by age 8 and studying the piano by 11 you advanced quickly through the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts releasing your first CD before graduation at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City you had earned a master's degree in piano by the time you were 23 released your second CD and formed a trio of Juilliard students playing around the city that group grew into the extraordinary jazz quintet stay human which is now the celebrated health band of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert playing to millions nightly the desire to connect and uplift people through jazz has motivated you throughout your life your quest has led you to perform in over 40 countries teaching master classes and offering international youth a chance to perform in the United States you've encouraged young musicians with your social music residency and mentoring program with your signature melodica in hand you have performed and recorded in New York subways and on street corners you have improvised the transformational experience of love riots as joyful citizens followed the pipe typing of the stay human band parading down city streets and sidewalks in park and in the aisles of concert halls in film intelligent television you have emerged as an authentic voice for the Arts a teacher and a witty comedian as an associate artistic director of the National jazz Museum in Harlem you enthusiastically assumed much responsibility for the growth of the vital fledgling institution that reaches and celebrates jazz the only authentic homegrown artform in the United States for sharing your great musical gifts and your profound understanding of the place of jazz in our country for your desire to lift up all peoples and for your delight and engaging musically in all of America savvy Regina University is honored to bestow on ponnu the Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa with all its attendant rights and privileges on this 21st day of may 2017 [Applause] [Applause] yes yes yes today we're honored to confer the honorary degree upon dr. Baptiste and we also have the privilege of welcoming him as our 2017 commencement speaker ladies and gentlemen please join me in welcoming dr. Jonathan Michaels Vitesse all right let me put that down there good morning how's everybody feeling today [Laughter] [Laughter] [Applause] [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Laughter] how's everybody feeling the day well I know I'm feeling good today and to think that I'm a doctor I don't make house calls though that's it you know thank you sister Jane for that marvelous introduction you're working your spirit shines brightly and you're an example for all of us and the generosity of spirit and character that you include every day may God continue to bless your work here at Salva Regina [Applause] I'd like to begin by thanking all the administration and the board of trustees for giving me an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters Wow from now on I'll be sure to be as humane as possible I really do believe it's important to stay human you know it's a great honor to be here today alongside my fellow honorary degree recipient mentor and music legend mr. George wean really what you've done for the community here in Newport is invaluable and for the music community worldwide there's so much that I've learned from watching you and you know when we get back to New York I look very much forward to sitting down and having one of your cheese omelets again very delicious and I'd like to thank all of the Sal Regina community faculty staff parents friends everybody who came up to support and last but not least the graduating class of 2017 what you have done today is significant no matter what culture tells you no matter what it's on TV or the media even if it's me what you've done is significant putting in time putting in blood sweat and tears work ethic frustration success frustration again all of these things build your character when you think about what's actually important in the world when you're going out to pursue your vocation its who are you who do you want to be and who can you help along the way asking yourself these questions will only help you to understand what you want to do because that may change what you're studying now many of my colleagues when we graduated we took very different career paths to what we thought we were going to take at the time we were sitting in the seat that you're in I'm 30 now not too long ago feels like just yesterday I was graduating remember walking around the halls of Juilliard with my harmonica in hand eating my weight in pizza standing up into the wee hours of the night dreaming about ways to change the world thinking about what we could do to make a difference with music and not looking back on that time if I'd have known all the things that we had at our disposal I would have taken even more advantage of it than I did and trust me I worked it but if you haven't done that it's too late for you now but it's okay the world has so much left to teach you the world and the things ahead will be the greatest teacher that you've ever had and from being around these lovely people and understanding what you've been taught in the values that have been instilled in you and your four years here I think that you're well-prepared to step out there and take the stage thinking about when I first graduated in the way that the world was then it's very different even to what it is today I mean we had Facebook you have Instagram snapchat all of this stuff that I don't really bother with my sister Marissa is a digital native y'all generation she feels that stuff but when I'm thinking about it I don't think it's going to slow down anytime soon but what will help you to sustain and to be successful is to define who you are define who you want to be and who can you help along the way by doing that you establish your values basically what I'm telling you is to get your priorities in order because once you have that in order whatever is happening around you it won't affect you very much because you have an internal fortitude amidst the chaos you have to have that above anything else what are your values because a lot of people will tell you what they think success is but you have to define that for yourself and once you define that for yourself you can then begin your true vocation your god-given purpose I think back I want to tell you a story that I've never told in public I think back to a time when I first took the stage and the band state human we were venturing outside of the jazz world we were trying to figure out ways to reach people who didn't typically go to concert halls of jazz and use and think about jazz as something that they enjoy it wasn't in the social context for them so we started to play in rock and roll venues punk venues we played in all of these different hip-hop clubs and open for different rap artists and along that journey we got booed once one of the three times that the band has gotten booed in our entire existence now I know that sounds like those three times getting booed you got to fail somewhere but for us we were used to playing and to room to where people would be elated to just see us before we even play the note because it's like wow you have young people who are interested in jazz great so we stepped onstage as soon as we played the first note I remember the audience was like go home and I was like wait a minute maybe we should change what we're doing and then five minutes into trying to change it on the fly no rehearsal I decided you know what I'm gonna stick to the script I started playing but we always play through the booze they started playing the band got into it they stuck to it the crowd was booing we got louder they got louder we got louder back and forth until finally my good friend Joe who I met at the age of 16 and we've still been playing together ever since he's a drummer and tambourine player he takes his tambourine he's playing a solo and the intensity must have gotten to him because he knocks the mic stand over with the tambourine the mic is the floor there's feedback the first time in 20 minutes draw up the set there's silence everybody's looking at each other and then slowly they all start to clap and in that moment in some small dive bar several years ago in Philadelphia opening for whoever was the hot flavor of that month I realized something very very profound don't change who you are to fit the circumstances around you at a certain point you're going to be in a place where nobody around you is like you or has your values but when you reach that point that's where you embolden them that's when your values become stronger and that's when your character really comes to the test and when you come out on the other side of that you've really made progress in defining who you are and who you want to be the part about who you can help along the way I truly believe that's something that comes from God finding time to meditate and pray apart from the world and all the things that can pull and tug at your time is very important because once you do the work you have to have the purpose behind the work the purpose behind the work has to come from a divine place money and accolades are great but I'll tell you what that's not what it's about you can have all the money in the world and be completely unhappy if some of the countries we have taught in they have nothing and those are some of the smiliness people you ever see so thinking about why you do this it's something that I urge you to do and I want to leave you with an exercise and how to do that when you leave here take a piece of paper write down at the top this is who I am and then just start listing things it doesn't matter how desperate or very they are just start listing things and then figure out ways to combine the things that you have listed my list will read something like red beans and rice basketball piano Duke Ellington but when you make those connections that's your integrity when you make those connections that's who you are in its raw sense and you're not worried about the money and the accolades that will come but force yourself to be creative embrace the uncomfortable embrace the uncomfortable and make sense out of it and the second exercise I would urge you to do is write down at the top of another sheet of paper these are my prayers and think about who what and how you want to serve other people with that first year this will guide you and it always changed it will always evolve it will grow over two years but ultimately that's what it's all about hopefully I see you along the road at some point and we will share some music and share some stories and share some omelets but until that time may God bless you and I see you on the other side thank you very much [Applause] [Music] Hey [Music] [Music] you [Music] Hey [Music] Hey [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Salve Regina University

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Keywords: Jazz, Newport, rhode island, salve regina university, commencement, jon baptiste, 2017

Id: M6WqtiKBwas

Length: 22min 2sec (1322 seconds)

Published: Mon May 22 2017