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Jon Batiste & Randy Newman: Lonely Avenue

By Ludovico Granvassu
August 11, 2025
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Enjoy this soulful take on

Doc Pomus

composer / conductor
1925 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Doc Pomus' "Lonely Avenue"—a song immortalized by

Ray Charles

piano and vocals
1930 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Ray Charles, the patron saint of

" data-original-title="" title="">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

piano
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">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.

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