Home » Jazz Articles » Play This! » Jon Batiste & Randy Newman: Lonely Avenue

Jon Batiste & Randy Newman: Lonely Avenue

By Ludovico Granvassu
August 11, 2025
View read count

Enjoy this soulful take on Doc Pomus' "Lonely Avenue"—a song immortalized by Ray Charles, the patron saint of Jon Batiste's musical world.

To make this single an even more compelling preview of his upcoming album Big Money, Batiste enlisted a fellow Ray Charles devotee, the legendary Randy Newman. Though Newman has kept a lower public profile in recent years, this track—captured in a single take in his living room—proves he hasn't lost an ounce of his gruff charisma or that unmistakable growl.

Contact Ludovico Granvassu on All About Jazz.
I'm the Editor-in-Chief of All About Jazz Italia, host of Mondo Jazz on Radio Free Brooklyn and was once visited by Frank Zappa's ghost.... he was funny too.

Contribute to Play This! Recommend a favorite song, album, or performance and we'll share it with your fellow All About Jazz readers. Submit it here.

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Meet Dabin Ryu
< Previous

Amoeba's Dance
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.