Jon Batiste talks about video game music | The Washington Post

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[DragonQuarter]

This was awesome, and Jon Batiste is awesome. I think there was a missed opportunity to pay specific kudos to the composers of these tunes, however. If people feel the need to bring up "John Williams" when calling to mind Jurassic Park or Star Wars and "Alan Silvestri" when calling to mind Back to the Future and The Avengers, the same should be done for games:

*Nobuo Uematsu - "Opening Bombing Mission" - Final Fantasy VII
*Tetris (Old Russian Folk Song; Game Boy version was done by Hip Tanaka)
*Yoko Shimomura - "Guile's Theme" - Street Fighter II
*Koji Kondo - "Song of Storms" - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time + "Level 1-1" from Super Mario Bros.
*Masato Nakamura - "Green Hill Zone" - Sonic the Hedgehog

[danschiffmacher]

I'd pay all the money for him to do an entire album of video game music.

[insaneintherainmusic]

So happy to see someone in the public eye bringing attention to game music like this, especially jazz video game music :)

[vercoda]

Games composers are often underappreciated, when the best have exceptional skills and creativity. Glad he celebrates that too...

[RedZeshinX]

This explains those Zelda lead-in songs for interviews during the Late Show! So it IS Batiste, awesome! And man, is he ever AMAZING on the piano or what? And such a nuanced, sophisticated view of music and its relationship with other media, not many artists have that kind of worldly way of thinking about compositions, color me impressed.

[itsyajay]

He lived in my building in the city. He left to be in the band. Proud of him :)

[piratelechuck]

Did anyone else have a moment when he started playing "Green Hill Zone"? 💕

[chrisbradshaw]

man, I could watch a two hour version of this video

[curryking]

I was not expecting to listen to Mr. Batiste play music from Final Fantasy VII and X this morning, or Street Fighter and Zelda. Amazing. I have no musical talent but I love the musics and stories he is drawing from in videogames. Very cool!

[BucketCapacity]

Going from Song of Storms to My Favorite Things blew my mind.

[Julian-brwb]

Final Fantasy is the reason I play piano today - Jon Batiste knows his stuff, top tier talent!

[jpriest]

1:32 but when can we get a Jon Batiste x Nobuo Uematsu final fantasy 7 joint?

[anidiotplayslivestream]

Man, I would gladly give up a paycheck for a collection of video game tracks from this man, with or without the rest of the Late Show band. So much nostalgia here in less than 5 minutes.

[Omar_E]

I've gained so much respect for him. Video game music unfortunately goes largely unnoticed and unappreciated and isn't taken as seriously as say a mainstream album or something, but they're often just as, if not more memorable. Seeing him reference the classics in a popular night show is heartwarming. Keep playing, Jon!

[StriderStryker]

Thanks for making the piano composition of Green Hill Zone. That song came out from the movie.

[zeroth]

Yo I flipped when he did the FF7 opening mission
This guy
I have much respect for him

[Kabaselefh]

He has music in his blood, what a talent.

[nexuseclipse]

I would pay real money to listen to an album of video game covers by Batiste.

[sonicplys]

Jon Batiste is so awesome. My two favorite things in the entire world, Music and Video games, are personified in him.

[musubi-vidz]

Stoked to see him win album of the year last night. We need a whole album of this music now.