You may know him best as the leader of The Late Show band supporting Stephen Colbert on CBS five nights a week. Jazz musician Louis Cato has been with the show since its inception in 2015, and has performed with artists as diverse as Snarky Puppy, Jon Batiste, Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest.
We caught up with the multi-instrumentalist Sunday at the Newport Jazz Festival, a day after he played a crowd-pleasing set with his band at Fort Adams. Cato admitted being excited and even a little nervous in his role as bandleader at the festival. He’s been here before with artists including John Scofield, John Batiste, and Bobby McFerrin, but never as leader.
“I first played in 2011; it means so much I’m still wrapping my head around it, to be honest,” he said. “I want to plug into the history of the festival; I just saw Moodswing, the first time they played here was in ’92. Nina (Simone), Muddy Waters, all that history … the camera panning back to the audience. You really get a sense of the history that is here at Newport. It’s really something special.”
Cato led his band through some covers and songs from his new album Reflections.
“I have a new album coming out next week; it’s an acoustic, soulful, more stripped-down sound. For the set, I did some songs from the new record, re-arranged some songs from Starting Now (2017) specifically for the festival, and rocked it out a little more. I purposely put Curtis Mayfield “Movin on Up,” thought it was appropriate in this environment, with my history and heritage and with the history and heritage of this festival.”
Cato’s day job certainly keeps him busy. As The Late Show bandleader and music director, he’s busy with many aspects of the nightly program. Not least of all, keeping the audience entertained during commercial breaks, what the TV audience hears as the show segues to a commercial. He brings together various genres for those songs, weaving jazz into the equation whenever possible.
“Scope matters,” he says. “I think when you are talking jazz, the history of the music is sort of played in small rooms, not like bringing it into a large audience, on Colbert. Part of my job is to be a presenter; I get to present a lot of traditional nuance and vocabulary for an audience that otherwise maybe wouldn’t be exposed to it. I’m a fan of music; I love exploring the intersections of the different genres,” he explained.
“For example, when Ahmad Jamal passed away, we just made that night Ahmad Jamal night, we put some of his songs over more accessible tunes, sometimes we’ll just play them straight,” Cato added.
The studio lights shine bright, but Cato stays grounded in everyday life. “I have two daughters, ages 11 and 18, and that is all the grounding you need. Both of them, their pride and joy is to make fun of me.”
Cato’s new release Reflections is out on CD and streaming Friday, August 11. A pair of already-released singles promise a cheery R&B/pop feel to the album. Vinyl will come later, Cato promised.
Click here to purchase the album and learn more about Louis Cato.
