Jon Batiste led a New Orleans-style second line through the Fabulous Fox and onto Grand Boulevard, a melodica in hand, a parade of musicians behind him in a bombastic opening performance of the MATI Music Festival and Conference.
The procession was one of the more memorable moments of the four-day festival, also known as known as Music at the Intersection, which returned to St. Louis’ Grand Center neighborhood for its sixth year. The festival moved from September to July and shifted its main stages indoors, bringing performances to venues including Jazz St. Louis, the Sovereign, the Big Top and the Fox.
After a climactic reading of Batiste’s “Butterfly,” illuminated by attendees’ cellphone screens, the band took a group bow and exited the stage. The houselights came up, and concertgoers were starting to chat and leave their seats when Batiste and his eight-piece band marched back into the theatre, playing “You Are My Sunshine” in a loose, percussion-heavy arrangement up the aisle, through the lobby and out onto Grand Boulevard. He led the parade, occasionally taking a quick solo on melodica but mostly acting as vibemaster-in-chief — high-fiving someone in the passenger seat of a passing car and obligingly taking in-motion selfies with overjoyed fans…