The Bahamas Is Now Home To The Jon Batiste Jazz Club

News Americas, New York, NY, January 20, 2025: Grammy-winning, New Orleans-born American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, composer, and television personality, Jonathan Michael Batiste, known simply as Jon Batiste, has officially opened his first-ever jazz club at the luxurious Baha Mar resort in Nassau, The Bahamas. The 12,900-square-foot venue, which seats 278 guests, aims to revive the golden era of Bahamian nightlife with a nod to the country’s rich musical heritage.

Jon Batiste performing during the grand opening of Jon Batiste’s Jazz Club at Baha Mar on January 17, 2025 in Nassau, Bahamas. Baha Mar has partnered with Multi-Grammy and Oscar-winning musician Jon Batiste to launch Jon Batiste’s Jazz Club at Baha Mar, his first jazz venue, now open in The Bahamas. (Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Baha Mar)

Baha Mar, located on the iconic Cable Beach, has previously hosted the renowned Bemelmans Bar and boasts one of the Caribbean’s leading art collections. Inspired by the 1950s and 1960s jazz scene in Nassau – when legendary venues like the Cat and Fiddle Club welcomed icons such as Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, Nat King Cole, and Sammy Davis Jr.—the new club brings an air of refined nostalgia to the island’s entertainment scene.

A New Benchmark in Luxury and Entertainment

Jon Batiste performing at the grand opening of Jon Batiste’s Jazz Club at Baha Mar on January 17, 2025 in Nassau, Bahamas. Baha Mar has partnered with Multi-Grammy and Oscar-winning musician Jon Batiste to launch Jon Batiste’s Jazz Club at Baha Mar, his first jazz venue, now open in The Bahamas. (Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Baha Mar)

“As with every element at Baha Mar, we are pushing the boundaries of luxury and creativity, and Jon Batiste’s Jazz Club is the culmination of our vision to set a new benchmark in entertainment,” said Graeme Davis, president of Baha Mar. “Our partnership with Jon Batiste, an artist whose vision knows no bounds, was essential to crafting a club that radiates soul. Together, we’ve created a venue poised to become an iconic highlight for our guests and a cultural beacon for The Bahamas.”

Batiste, 38, marked the grand opening on Friday, January 17, with a special performance alongside singer Joanna “JoJo” Levesque. The sold-out crowd of nearly 300 VIP guests included The Daily Show host Jon Stewart and several Bahamian dignitaries. The duo delighted the audience with jazz classics such as “‘Round Midnight,” “Never Will I Marry,” and “A Night in Tunisia.”

Reflecting on his return to jazz clubs, Batiste shared his excitement with Page Six, stating, “I’ve been on TV, I’ve done all of these things, but I started in jazz clubs, and now it’s almost like 20 years later to come back … it just makes sense. There’s a symmetry to it. It’s the manifestation of a dream.”

Jon Batiste performs during the grand opening of Jon Batiste’s Jazz Club at Baha Mar on January 17, 2025 in Nassau, Bahamas. Baha Mar has partnered with Multi-Grammy and Oscar-winning musician Jon Batiste to launch Jon Batiste’s Jazz Club at Baha Mar, his first jazz venue, now open in The Bahamas. (Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Baha Mar)

Batiste to Perform at Super Bowl

Following the grand opening of his jazz club, Batiste is set to perform the U.S. National Anthem at Super Bowl LVIII on February 9th, airing live on FOX. The pregame show will also feature performances by Trombone Shorty, Lauren Daigle, and Ledisi, paying tribute to the vibrant music culture of New Orleans and showcasing artists from Louisiana.

With his jazz club now open in The Bahamas and a high-profile Super Bowl appearance ahead, Batiste continues to make waves in the music world while honoring jazz.

About Batiste

Batiste, born in Metairie, Louisiana, and raised in Kenner, hails from the renowned Batiste musical family of New Orleans. He began his musical journey at the age of eight, playing percussion with his family’s band, the Batiste Brothers Band, before switching to piano at 11. Influenced by video game soundtracks like Street Fighter Alpha and Final Fantasy VII, he honed his piano skills through classical lessons. At 17, Batiste released his debut album, Times in New Orleans, and attended St. Augustine High School and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts alongside Trombone Shorty. He later earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in jazz studies from The Juilliard School in New York. During his time there, he released his second album and performed internationally, establishing himself as a rising star in the jazz world.

Top 10 Things To Know About Marcus Garvey And His Historic Pardon

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Jan. 20, 2025: As Jamaica and the global Black diaspora celebrate the long-overdue pardon of the late Jamaican immigrant, civil rights, and human rights leader Marcus Mosiah Garvey by President Biden, here are ten key facts to know about this influential figure, who died 85 years ago.

1. Jamaican Roots and Early Life
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. was born on August 17, 1887, in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. As a teenager, he apprenticed in the print trade and later became involved in trade unionism in Kingston. His early travels took him to Costa Rica, Panama, and England before returning to Jamaica, where he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914.

2. Founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
In 1916, Garvey migrated to the U.S. and established the UNIA, a movement that aimed to uplift Black people through economic empowerment and self-reliance. He declared himself the “Provisional President of Africa” and launched initiatives to unite the African diaspora globally.

FLASHBACK – Jamaican Pan-Africanist activist, Marcus Garvey (1887 – 1940, right) in military uniform during a Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A.) parade in Harlem, New York City, 1924. (Photo by James Van Der Zee/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

3. Economic Empowerment Through Business Ventures
Garvey believed in Black economic independence and established various enterprises, including the Negro Factories Corporation and the Negro World newspaper. In 1919, he became president of the Black Star Line, a shipping company intended to facilitate African-American migration to Africa and promote trade among people of African descent.

4. Controversial Relationship with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
Garvey was one of the first Black leaders to meet with the Ku Klux Klan, a controversial move that sparked criticism. In 1922, he held a meeting with Klan leader Edward Young Clarke, believing that both groups had mutual goals of racial separatism. This decision was widely condemned and led to a decline in his support among Black intellectuals and activists.

5. Opposition from Black Leaders
Prominent Black leaders, including W.E.B. Du Bois and A. Philip Randolph, criticized Garvey’s tactics and vision. They considered his plans, such as the Black Star Line and a pan-African empire, unrealistic and accused him of misleading Black communities. Randolph’s publication, The Messenger, led a “Garvey Must Go” campaign to expose what they viewed as financial mismanagement and false promises. They believed that his plans for black progress, including the Black Star Line and the establishment of a pan-African empire, were unrealistic and ill-advised; they considered the Universal Negro Improvement Association’s grandiose titles and military regalia to be preposterous; and they thought Garvey, with his assumption of a regal posture under the title “Provisional President of Africa,” to be little more than a self-aggrandizing buffoon. A. Philip Randolph, who had introduced Garvey to his first American audience on a Harlem street corner, said Garvey had “succeeded in making the Negro the laughingstock of the world.”

Jamaican Nationalist Marcus Garvey Sitting at Desk (Photo by Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

6. Legal Troubles and Imprisonment
In 1923, Garvey was convicted of mail fraud related to the sale of Black Star Line stocks. Despite protests from supporters, he served nearly two years in a U.S. federal penitentiary. The Attorney General at the time, John Sargent, received a petition with 70,000 signatures urging for Garvey’s release. Sargeant warned President Calvin Coolidge that African Americans were regarding Garvey’s imprisonment not as a form of justice against a man who had swindled them but as “an act of oppression of the race in their efforts in the direction of race progress.” Eventually, Coolidge agreed to commute the sentence so that it would expire immediately, on 18 November 1927. He stipulated, however, that Garvey should be deported straight after release. On being released, Garvey was taken by train to New Orleans, where around a thousand supporters saw him onto the SS Saramaca on 3 December. The ship then stopped at Cristóbal in Panama, where supporters again greeted him, but where the authorities refused his request to disembark. He then transferred to the SS Santa Maria, which took him to Kingston, Jamaica. He claimed prejudice from Jewish and Catholic communities played a role in his legal troubles.

7. Political Aspirations in Jamaica
Upon returning to Jamaica, Garvey established the People’s Political Party in 1929 and briefly served as a city councilor in Kingston. He aimed to implement policies such as land reform, a minimum wage, and the development of educational institutions. Garvey attempted to travel across Central America but found his hopes blocked by the region’s various administrations, who regarded him as disruptive. However, financial difficulties forced him to leave Jamaica for London in 1935.

8. Final Years in London
Garvey continued his advocacy in London but struggled to regain his influence. His anti-socialist stance distanced him from other Black activists, and he faced financial hardship. In 1940, after suffering a stroke, he passed away in relative obscurity.

9. Posthumous Recognition
Garvey’s legacy endured long after his death. In 1964, his remains were reburied in Jamaica’s National Heroes Park, and he was officially declared a national hero. His teachings inspired movements such as the Rastafari movement and influenced leaders like Malcolm X and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King Jr. once said of Garvey: “He was the first man, on a mass scale and level” to give millions of Black people “a sense of dignity and destiny.”

10. Presidential Pardon and Continued Influence
On January 19, 2024, President Biden granted Garvey a posthumous pardon, acknowledging the unjust prosecution he faced. Howard University School of Law professors and students helped to secure a posthumous pardon for civil rights leader Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr, ONH on the eve of the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday The first national hero of Jamaica and leader of the U.S. Back to Africa political movement of the 1920’s, Garvey founded the United Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA) to promote unity and pride amongst all Black people across the globe.

For the last 15 years, Howard University professor Justin Hansford has been working with Garvey’s son, Julius Garvey, M.D., who has championed the push for his father, who died in 1940, to receive a posthumous presidential pardon with an acknowledgment that he was unjustly charged. The Congressional Black Caucus, led by Caribbean-American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, also played a significant role in advocating for this clemency. The pardon came years after a campaign begun to push President Obama, the first black US President, to grant the pardon. He did not. In a media release on Sunday, Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness said this is a momentous step toward righting a grave historical wrong committed against one of the most significant civil rights leaders and pan-Africanists in history.

“Today, January 19, 2025, will forever be remembered as a day of triumph for justice and a proud moment for the people of Jamaica. The removal of the unjust stain on Marcus Garvey’s name restores the full dignity and honor he has always deserved as a champion of freedom, empowerment, and equality,” Holness stated, while expressing gratitude to Biden, private citizens who signed petitions, the Jamaican diaspora, friends of Jamaica and successive Governments of Jamaica who lobbied for the pardon.

Garvey’s legacy remains a beacon of Black pride, self-reliance, and unity, inspiring generations worldwide.

Lenny Kravitz Foundation Completes 8th Mission In Eleuthera

News Americas, NASSAU, Bahamas, Mon. Jan. 20, 2025: Award-winning Bahamas-roots rocker Lenny Kravitz, through his Let Love Rule Foundation, successfully brought the 8th annual GLO Good dental mission to Eleuthera, Bahamas, on Saturday.

Lenny Kravitz seen at left in a TikTok video from the Jan. 18, 2025 event. (Tiktok screengrab/Lenny Kravitz)

In collaboration with JBL NYC and Twice, Kravitz’s foundation provided free dental care to dozens of adults and children in Gregory Town, Eleuthera. A dedicated team of volunteers set up the clinic, offering vital dental and primary medical services to the community.

In an Instagram video, Kravitz – who spends alot of his time in the Bahamas and owns a custom Airstream trailer on the island – was seen warmly greeting attendees and offering personal support, even holding the hands of a woman and at the bedside of a child as they received dental care.

Watch the video here: TikTok.

According to the GLO Good website, the mission’s goal is to “bring healthy smiles and restore confidence and health to hundreds of adults and children in need.” The organization also highlights its commitment to transparency, stating that “every dollar we raise goes directly towards providing care, with zero administrative expense.”

Kravitz and the GLO Good Foundation have long been dedicated to delivering free dental and medical care to underserved communities worldwide, further solidifying their impact in Eleuthera and beyond.