By Mark Kennedy, Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Jon Batiste, his career soaring after winning multiple Grammys this year, is leaving his perch as bandleader of "The Late Show" after a seven-year run backing up host Stephen Colbert.
"We've been so lucky to have a front row seat to Jon's incredible talent for the past seven years," Colbert said on Thursday's show. "But we're happy for you, Jon, and I can't wait to have you back on as guest with your next hit record."
Louis Cato, who has served as interim bandleader this summer, will take over on a permanent basis when the show returns for its eighth season. He has been with the show since its launch. Cato has worked with the likes of Beyonce, Mariah Carey and John Legend and is working on a new album. Colbert called him a musical genius.
"He can play basically every instrument over there," Colbert said. "Give him an afternoon, he'll learn how to play Mozart on a shoehorn."
Batiste has toured globally with his band Stay Human and made a memorable stop at Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" in 2014. When producers of "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" were considering having a house band the following year, Batiste and Stay Human were a natural fit.
The mutual respect Colbert and Batiste shared was obvious. The bandleader often cheered the comedian's nightly monologue from the piano, appeared in segments and accompanied the musical guests. Batiste stuck with the gig even during the pandemic, coming up with tunes, both original and covers, on the spot.
The multi-instrumentalist won five Grammys this year. Batiste composed music, consulted on and arranged songs for Pixar's animated film "Soul," a mid-life crisis movie mixed with a New York jazz fantasia and a body-swap comedy. He won a Golden Globe for the music alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails; and the trio also earned the Academy Award for best original score. For their work on "Soul," Batiste, Reznor and Ross won the Grammy for best score soundtrack f or visual media.
AP Media Writer David Bauder contributed to this report.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More