A new documentary premiering on Netflix today follows a year in the life of acclaimed musician Jon Batiste and his partner, author-artist Suleika Jaoaud, as Batiste composes a major symphonic work while Jaouad undergoes treatment for cancer.
Directed and produced by Academy Award nominee and multiple Emmy Award winner Matthew Heineman, American Symphony is produced by Higher Ground (President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company), Mercury Studios, and Our Time Projects.
The documentary premiered at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival. It’s not streaming globally on Netflix.
Watch the trailer:
Batiste has also released “It Never Went Away,” a new song written for the film by Batiste and Grammy winner Dan Wilson.
“‘It Never Went Away’ details a love that outlasts any condition of the physical world,” Batiste says. “It probes the question of our mortality, while at the same time speaking to the enduring quality of our deepest callings and desires. That part of us that stands in protest to the ills of the physical world is, in fact, evidence of our perpetual nature.”
Batiste was recently nominated for five more Grammy Awards. The Oscar-winning and multiple Grammy-winning musician’s latest recording World Music Radio is up for album of the year, alongside albums by Taylor Swift, Janelle Monáe, Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, Boygenius, Olivia Rodrigo, and SZA.
At the 64th Grammy Awards in 2022, Batiste’s We Are won the coveted title of album of the year. Now, he looks to repeat with the followup World Music Radio.
Batiste is also nominated for record of the year (“Worship”), song of the year (“Butterfly”), best jazz performance (“Movement 18′ (Heroes)”), best American roots performance (“Butterfly”), and best pop duo/group performance (for his guest feature on Lana Del Rey’s “Candy Necklace”).