We Are (Jon Batiste album)

We Are (stylized in all caps) is the sixth studio album by Jon Batiste. It was released on Verve Records on March 19, 2021. In April 2022, We Are won Album of the Year at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards; it earned Batiste nine nominations in total, with five wins.

Following the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, We Are reached its peak at number 25 on the US Billboard 200 with 18,000 album equivalent units.

Background
Batiste began working on the album in late 2019, making it in his dressing room over six days in September and finishing it by mid-2020. While largely written and recorded prior to the events of 2020, the album's lyrical and thematic content reflects such events as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and his involvement in 2020, leading Black Lives Matter protests in New York after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

On June 12, 2020, he released the single "We Are", featuring the band from his New Orleans alma mater, the St. Augustine High School Marching 100.

As part of Record Store Day 2020, Batiste released a limited edition EP titled We Are: Roots & Traditions.

The album also features Mavis Staples, Zadie Smith, PJ Morton, and Trombone Shorty.

Speaking to Atwood Magazine, Batiste described We Are as "a representation of genreless music that's just about the story" and "a culmination of my life to this point".

Batiste released a deluxe edition of the album on October 15, 2021.

Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards

Musicians
• Jon Batiste – vocals, piano, upright piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, keyboards, organ, barrel organ, clavinet, Mellotron, 8 bit synth, Kawai synth, synth strings, guitar, alto saxophone, bass, Moog bass, synth bass, drums, drum machine, drum programming, cowbell, tambourine, bongos, theremin, producer, arranger, composer

• Craig Adams – conductor, organ

• David Gauthier – vocals

• Braedon Gautier – vocals

• Brennan Gautier – vocals

• Gospel Soul Children – vocals

• Tori Kelly – vocals

• David Pimentel – drums, producer, recording

• Autumn Rowe – composer, vocals

• Nate Smith – drums

• St. Augustine High School Marching 100 – brass band

• Cory Wong – guitar

• Sam Yahel – organ

• Mavis Staples – spoken word

• Zadie Smith – vocals

• PJ Morton – vocals

• Trombone Shorty – trombone

• Robert Randolph – pedal steel guitar

• Steve Jordan – drums

• Steve McEwan – acoustic guitar, composer

• Endea Owens – double bass

• Jahaan Sweet – composer

• Michelle Ross – violinist

• Louis Cato – guitar

• Joe Saylor – tambourine

• Emily King – vocals

• Roberta Freeman – vocals

• Carol Hatchett – vocals

• Zach Cooper – composer

• Vic Dimotsis – composer

• Eric Frederic – composer

• Sunny Levine – composer

• Hot 8 Brass Band – brass band

• Nick Waterhouse - producer, guitar

Technical

 * Russell Elevado – recording
 * Misha Kachkachishvili – recording
 * Kizzo – composer, producer, recording
 * Emerson Mancini – mastering engineer
 * Manny Marroquin – mixing
 * Marc Whitmore – recording, mixing
 * Alex Williams – recording
 * Karla Cordova – album art
 * Suleika Jaouad – photography
 * Quincy Jones – liner notes
 * Ricky Reed – mixing
 * Ryan Lynn – co executive producer
 * Ken Oriole - recording
 * John Muller – engineer
 * Gavin Paddock - engineer, mix engineer
 * David Andersen - second engineer