Before Louis Cato took over for his friend Jon Batiste as bandleader of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in 2022, he put out records that swerved from funk to jazz to blues and soul, with some R&B and Latin influences along the way.
Mr. Cato, 38, is still making his own music when he’s not onstage revving up the “Late Show” crowd. Most Sunday afternoons after he and his 12-year-old daughter, Gianna, part ways — he and Gianna’s mother share custody — he’s hunkered in his home studio in Midtown recording “Cato covers,” his version of a beloved song, which he shares with his Instagram followers each Monday.
FRESH FROM HELL, HILARITY I’m usually up round about the 8 o’clock hour. My daughter and I start out with açaí bowls. It’s a longstanding daddy-daughter tradition, always from the smoothie/juice spot right here on my block, Fresh From Hell. If I worked late and am feeling super lazy, I might have it delivered. Other times, I walk down the block in my pajama pants and pick it up. She gets a fresh and fruity açaí bowl; I get a green smoothie with a bunch of stuff in it — flax seeds, matcha protein, ginger, blueberries.
We always have a little bit of a game if I went to pick it up. It feels weird to say it out loud because no one knows about it, but to us it’s hilarious: I get back with the order, and she’ll say, “Hey, Dad, did you get the açaí bowls?” I, for no reason, pretend I haven’t gotten them yet, that I went to pick up a package instead. Then it becomes this game where she’s trying to grab the bowls. We always do the first bite together and end up turning on cartoons, usually “Animaniacs” or “Pinky and the Brain.”
DAD HAT As of late we’ve been walking to the piers, two blocks away. That’s sort of our get-out-of-the-house thing of choice. We’re walking and talking, just hanging. We play a lot of 20 questions. If it’s raining, she likes to jump in the puddles, much to the chagrin of me in my father hat. When we get back home late morning, we do what I like to think of as the real breakfast, which is delivery from Galaxy Diner. She gets a waffle with bacon; I get an omelet.
Then it’s the guessing game where, because it comes in aluminum with a white paper cap on top and you can’t see what’s inside, we guess which one is whose. Somebody’s right, somebody’s wrong. We’ll watch an episode of either this old Jim Henson show called “Dinosaurs” that I watched when I was a kid or anything from the Marvel cinematic universe.
… OR A HOODIE At 1 o’clock, she has her piano lesson at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. When she expressed interest in piano, maybe two years ago, I thought it was a really good starting point. I just kind of like their approach. I know the work they do in the community. We don’t take the subway. We’re Uber folk these days. I don’t usually get recognized because I own a good amount of hooded things. Hooded cardigans, hooded jackets. It takes a lot for people to catch a sighting of me, and that’s dandy with me.
BREAKFAST NO. 3? Piano doubles as the parental handoff. I leave her at piano, and her mom picks her up. Typically after piano I’ll head back to the city and have lunch with a friend or team member — me and my creative partner or manager, someone from Team Cato — to kind of go over or contextualize things coming up. It’s probably at Galaxy Diner. I’m a creature of habit. I get the same thing every time: a make-your-own omelet with spinach and tomatoes and black olives and, if I’m really feeling zesty, onions. I did already have an omelet, I know. I guess I love eggs.
IN THE STUDIO I have a weekly series on my Instagram called “Cato covers” that comes out every Monday. I’ve been doing it since 2016. I’ll take a song and sort of reimagine it with my take as a singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist. It’s a multicamera thing. There’s a guy named Colby Groves I’ve been working with the past couple years. He’ll come over and shoot one or two of them. That takes about two hours, and then basically I’ll give him a rough he can take with him. He goes home and edits it while I’m touching up the mix in my studio area, and then once that gets done, I send him the final mix.
ON REPEAT At about 7 I’m either meal-prepping while listening to an Eckhart Tolle audiobook or, if I’m completely zonked, I’m ordering Thai food from around the corner at Yum Yum Too. Yes, I do get the same thing every time: yellow curry chicken and brown rice. Eckhart Tolle is because oh, my gosh. Someone recommended me this book, “The Power of Now,” years ago, and I’ve read it probably about 10 times. I find a lot of depth in it. His approach to human experience and presence is just really resonant for me.
WORK, PLAY After dinner, I find I need a bit of me time. I’ll put a basketball game on. I’m a sucker for N.B.A. basketball. Often I’ve got Eckhart Tolle on the headphones with the game on with the TV sound off and my laptop going. I’m going through the music for the show for the week ahead.
HEY, MOM Bedtime is 11 or 11:30. But I totally forgot: Sunday nights are my nights for me and my mom to talk. She’s in Altamont, N.C., and I don’t get to talk to her during the week. I’ve been busy for a long time now, and no one is more understanding of that than her. But finally one day she said, “Maybe we could just check in on Sundays.” I went, OMG, yeah, I want to do that. We FaceTime.
Sunday Routine readers can follow Louis Cato on X and Instagram at @reallouiscato.
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