Jon Batiste

Jon Batiste performs with The Dap-Kings at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, Calif. on Sept. 22, 2018. Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Jon Batiste carries his melodica with him pretty much all the time. "I always have it," he says. "It's kind of like my murse — a man purse." Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Jon Batiste. Ingrid Hertfelder/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Jon Batiste embraces the crowd at the 2014 Newport Jazz Festival. Adam Kissick for NPR hide caption

Jon Batiste (second from left) and the Stay Human band. Peter Lueders/Courtesy of the artist hide caption