Jon Batiste delivers spiritual moment of music inside (and outside) Heinz Hall

Not a whole lot of performances at Heinz Hall end with spectators, sousaphones, melodicas and percussion instruments spilling out onto Penn Avenue. Then again, not a whole lot of performers are Jon Batiste.

Batiste has cemented his place in the modern American music pantheon, with nearly 20 Grammy Award nominations and seven wins since 2018, an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy. He acted as band leader for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” from 2015 to 2022, and he scored the 2020 Pixar film “Soul” along with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

But that doesn’t say much about his music. Batiste’s music is, essentially, a deeply American creation, blending African music, jazz, rock, soul, R&B, gospel and more into an incredible melting pot of musicality. During Tuesday night’s set, the Louisiana native moved nimbly through original music, covers and interpolations for two hours, keeping the audience both on their feet and on their toes.

Take, for example, his time at the piano. Batiste is a vocalist, but also an incredible pianist, a guitarist and a melodica player. After two upbeat numbers to kick off the night, he sat down to play “When The Saints Go Marching In” that morphed from subdued to jubilant, and which he followed with “5th Symphony in Congo Square,” his rendition of Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5,” which he fused with jazz flourishes. And with just a few chords from “Don’t Leave Me” by R&B group Blackstreet, for good measure.

Tuesday night’s audience got extra lucky, because Batiste brought another huge talent to the stage as a special guest — fellow Grammy Award-winning vocalist Andra Day. Together, they performed duet “Lean on My Love,” harmonizing on impressive high notes during the sweetly lush ballad. At the song’s end, Day’s jazzy trill did dexterous call-and-response while Batiste played the melodica, earning whoops from the crowd.

Before Day left the stage, they transitioned into an uplifting duet of The Impressions’ “It’s All Right,” studding it with little references to “Shout” by the Isley Brothers.

None of that is to discount Batiste’s own music. He’s released seven studio albums, with “Big Money” coming earlier this year. He named the tour for the album, and he made sure the title track got its time in the spotlight. The singer spent much of his time onstage bopping, gliding and strutting with exuberance, and he even taught the crowd a special dance to go along with the song “Big Money,” a masterpiece of stomp-clap and blues guitar.

“I want to give you a public service announcement,” he said before the 10 musicians onstage launched into the funky “We Are.” “If you feel joy, you should express it. If you want to dance, get up and shake a tailfeather.”

The Heinz Hall audience gladly obliged, especially for the upbeat song with its mix of old-school soul and modern R&B and the addition of Batiste’s elastic vocal range moving from ringing falsetto to whispery low notes.

Being skilled in so many genres and instruments, Batiste has found such a specific character for his voice and instrumentation, and his strengths lie in his ability to blend and improvise with so much fluidity that it sounds like someone solving a musical Rubik’s Cube, sliding pieces into place. Watching him experiment and make the most interesting musical choices in real time is a wonder.

This was evident in “Cry,” which came towards the end of the set. With blues and rock influences, the song spun up with a striking drumbeat and escalated with a blistering guitar solo in the bridge. Then came vocalist Desireee “Desz” Washington, who gave a performance so chills-inducing that it evoked Mary Clayton in the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” in its sheer emotional impact.

Before “I Need You,” Batiste warned that it would be the crowd’s last chance to dance — which turned out not to be true! — so they took it. As did he, belting out the effervescent tune over bluesy piano notes, strident bass and the ever-present clapping beat from the audience.

During the encore — and after a honey-smooth verse or two of “Blueberry Hill” — he urged everyone to turn on their phone flashlights for “Butterfly,” a sparkly, sweet piano ballad. “Let’s stand on our feet, let’s proclaim the light,” he said. “I love you all. Send it out to someone, put them in your mind’s eye.”

But he would get an even closer look at his fans before the night’s end. He finished with “Worship,” a powerful world-music-tinged pop song that still brought in his extensive band. By the bridge, he said, “I love you all, I’m coming out there with you.”

And so he did, bringing several musicians down into the aisles. And then out into the lobby, giving fist bumps as attendees followed him out. And then onto Penn Avenue, where fans and passersby alike sang along, clapped, grooved and cheered as the song kept on for minutes. The chilly October night didn’t feel too cold with so many dance-flushed cheeks and giant grins on all sides.