New Orleans drummer Russell Batiste Jr., who kept the city’s funky beat, dies at 57

Russell Batiste Jr. said he was destined to be a drummer.

“I was born with a pair of sticks in my hand,” Batiste said, speaking to “The Jake Feinberg Show” in an interview posted in August. “… A lot of people were born to play sports and other things, but the majority of the Batiste family, they were born to play music.”