I don’t know what happened with documentary filmmakers in 2023, but they really went all in on celebrity profiles. Most big streamers have at least one doc this year about a famous person and the issues they were going through while entertaining audiences around the globe. Netflix, being the biggest one, double dipped, and gives us American Symphony, about another popular musician, an a bit more recent one that George and Andrew‘s big summer extravaganza.
For those who don’t know Jon Batiste, he’s probably not more than 1 or 2 cultural degrees of separation from something you like. The super talented musician/performer is the subject of Matthew Heineman’s documentary, specifically Batiste’s 2022. Why 2022? It was a crazy busy year for Batiste, working on all sorts of different projects at once, both professional and personal, giving a wonderful insight on one of the great talents working today.
If there’s a prevailing message of American Symphony, it’s “the power of creating art.” The process of creation is euphoric in American Symphony, as Batiste takes us through several artistic endeavors he is working on. Each project has different very specific details that need to be ironed out for the best version to get out in the world: a Grammy performance is not the same thing as writing and crafting the American Symphony. In addition, Batiste also hones his performances at The Stephen Colbert Show on CBS. At home, he has found his soul mate, Suleika Jaouad, very much his creative equal. As such, home life is very much an extension of Batiste’s work one, finding new ways to make the output of their marriage some form of beautiful expression. But at its core it’s the creation that’s life fulfilling to Batiste and Jaouad, who use it in good times and in bad to give meaning and impact to everything they create.
American Symphony also catches this talented power couple on divergent paths of luck and success. If Batiste isn’t at his creative peak, he’s pretty close, as he’s about to write one of the great symphonies of modern times, and potentially win Album of the Year at the biggest music award ceremony on the planet. But even at these highs, the doc also shows how much Batiste loves his wife. And at this point in poor Suleika Jaouad’s life, she doesn’t have the time to make the art she wants (writing). That’s because her cancer has returned, and she has to get ready for intense chemotherapy and a risky bone marrow transplant. Perhaps the true American Symphony Jon Batiste writes is this section, knowing where his true priorities lie. As much as he loves his art projects, his love and support for his wife is his favorite one, meaning he has to sacrifice some creative juices and provide them to his wife, so she can push forward, recover, and find new creative outlets for herself. The ups and downs of marriage and caring for the people you love, Jon Batiste knows that’s where human creativity is forged; we would never get the best American Symphony unless he’s certain he’s doing all he can for his wife.
Unlike those previous celeb profile documentaries on the streamers, only Still can elicit as much beauty and emotion as American Symphony. That’s because Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad wear their emotions on their sleaves, let out in bursts of creative magnificence. I hope Jaouad recovers, and gets a chance to write the best novel she has inside of her, which inspires Jon Batiste to write THE American Symphony, and eventually, everyone in their orbit finding their little artistic projects to make the world a more empathetic, beautiful place to live.