When Classical Meets Jazz: An Analysis of Frédéric Chopin and Jon Batiste

When pianist Jonathan “Jon” Batiste released a new work titled “Chopinesque” from his album, Hollywood Africans, in 2018, Batiste’s piece informed the world that his jazz album would incorporate classical composer Frédéric Chopin. Batiste’s choice to embed Chopin’s Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor within Batiste’s composition sparked my curiosity to uncover why Batiste named his work after Chopin and what Batiste’s overarching goal was for this piece. Based on a comparative analysis of Batiste and Chopin’s works, and drawing on the theories of the Third Stream, musical Signifyin(g), Kevin Fellezs’ examination of the “broken middle” in fusion, and “third space,” I argue that Batiste’s piece is an example of the broken middle, wherein it troubles any simple categorization as either “jazz” or “classical” music.