The Bahamas’ largest resort Baha Mar has been on a mission to wrap local arts and culture into guest experiences—and last week it debuted its first celebrity partnership towards that effort with the opening of Jon Batiste’s Jazz Club at Baha Mar.
“If you go to a club in the Bahamas, it should feel like it,” the 38-year-old Grammy and Oscar winner said. “There’s so much culture that gets buried under tourism, and the culture…[is] too strong to die—it’s too potent, it’s too real.”
Despite hailing from New Orleans—where he’ll sing the national anthem at his hometown Super Bowl on February 9, 2025—Batiste says he has long been influenced by Bahamian sounds, via his exposure as a touring musician, and then through fostering that connection with Bahamian trumpeter Giveton Gelin who he calls an “anchor” of the club’s development, and who will help curate its lineup of local and international musicians.
