NEW YORK (AP) — As a Grammy winner Jon Batiste As a child, say 9 or 10 years old, he moved between musical worlds—entering local classical piano competitions during the day and then “performing in nightspots in the heart of New Orleans.”

Free from the rigidity of the genre, but also a committed student of it, his tastes intertwined. He transformed canonized classical works into blues or gospel songs and gave them style-independent soulfulness He has become known for. On November 15, Batiste will release his first album of solo piano works, a collection of similar compositions.

Titled Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1), Batiste collaborates with Beethoven in some way across 11 tracks, interpreting the German pianist’s instantly recognizable works into something fluid that spans musical history. He begins with the lead single “Für Elise-Batiste,” whose simple intro is known worldwide as one of the first pieces of music beginners learn on the piano, and transforms the song into exuberant blues.

“My private practice has always been about veneration, of course, but also about demystifying the mythology surrounding these composers,” he told The Associated Press in an interview before announcing the album’s release on Wednesday.

The album was written through a process called “spontaneous composition,” which he considers a lost art in classical music. It’s improvised; Batiste sits at the piano and interpolates Beethoven’s masterpieces to make them his own.

“The approach is to think about it: If I were both in conversation with Beethoven, but also if Beethoven himself were here today and he was sitting at the piano, what would the approach be?” he explained. “And I combine both, you know, my approach to art and creativity and my idea of ​​how a contemporary Beethoven would approach these works.”

There is a divide, he said, in the popular understanding of music, in which “pristine, preserved and European” genres are seen as more valuable than “something black, sweaty and improvisational.” This album, like most of his work, refutes that assumption.

Contrary to what many may think, Batiste said that Beethoven’s rhythms were African. “On a basic technical level, he does what the ingenuity of African music brought to the world: he plays almost constantly in both two- and three-time beats. He plays almost exclusively in two different time signatures at the same time,” he said.

“When you hear a drum spinning, you know, the African diaspora tradition of playing together in time, you hear several different time signatures sounding at the same time,” he continued. “In general, he combines the whole practice of classical and symphonic music with this deeply African rhythmic practice, so it’s sophisticated.”

“Beethoven Blues” honors this complexity. “I am deeply repulsed by the classism and cultural system we have built that demeans some and elevates others. And ultimately what fascinates me is that excellence transcends race,” he said.

When performed live, due to their spontaneous nature, these songs will never sound exactly the same as they did on the recording, and no two sets will be the same. “If you came to see me perform these works 10 times in a row, you would hear not only a new version of Beethoven, but also a completely new concerto of Beethoven,” he said.

“Beethoven Blues” is the first part of a piano series – how many will there be, in what time period and what will they look like? Well, he’s keeping his options open.

“The themes of the piano series are based on whatever is current for me at this moment in my development, whatever I am exploring in relation to my artistic work. It could be another series based on a composer,” he said.

“Or it could be something else entirely.”