Jon Batiste Makes ‘Americana Blues Statement’ on Rootsy New Album ‘Big Money’

Jon Batiste Makes ‘Americana Blues Statement’ on Rootsy New Album ‘Big Money’

As a teenage musician, Jon Batiste used to call himself “a new-age blues artist.” Now, many genre-jumps later, he’s taking a deeply enjoyable left turn towards roots music on his seventh studio album, Aug. 22’s Big Money — and reminding the world he’s always been a bluesman at heart. “I’m just now making an explicit Americana blues statement,” Batiste says, “but for me, it’s at the beginning. It’s always the undercurrent. I think about everythin…