Musician and composer Jon Batiste, and powerhouse composing duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, together scored the Academy Award for Best Score, for Pixar’s animated hit Soul at the 93rd Academy Awards. The jazz-infused score has now picked up over 35 international accolades, including a BAFTA, Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice award.

Soul was actually one of two audio Oscar nominations for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross; the duo were also in the running for their score for David Fincher’s Mank.

Speaking at the Los Angeles ceremony, Jon Batiste said: “What’s deep is that God gave us 12 notes. It’s the same twelve 12 notes that Duke Ellington had, Bach had, Nina Simone had…This moment is a culmination of a series of miracles. It’s so incredibly powerful to stand here and the lineage that we come from, the lineage in this film…I’m just thankful to God for those 12 notes.”

Not only did Batiste contribute music to Soul, which is about a teacher who dreams of being a jazz pianist, but his hands were also filmed at the keyboard as a reference to help Pixar’s animators create authentic musical performances for the lead character in the movie 

In between sessions for Soul, Jon Batiste recorded a new studio album, We Are (Verve Records).  He reportedly wrote and planned much of the project in about a week from his dressing room at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he’s the musical director and bandleader. The album was recorded in New York, Los Angeles and in his native New Orleans.

Jaime Baksht, Carlos Cortés, Phillip Bladh, Michelle Couttolenc, and Nicolas Becker accepted the Oscar for Sound, for Sound of Metal. The film beat out Greyhound, Mank, News of the World and Soul.

Best Original Song was taken by ‘Fight For You’, from Judas and the Black Messiah.