Astral-plane bass wizard Thundercat and future Red Hot Chili Peppers opening act Thundercat released his nerded-out seduction anthem “Dragonball Durag” way back in February of 2020, and conditions are only now returning to the point where he gets to go out and play that song in front of people. Last night, that’s what he did. Thundercat was the musical guest on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. While Thundercat’s music has gone in a lot of different directions over the years, it’s based in jazz. For last night’s performance, he joined forces with another young jazz master, the Oscar-winning Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste.

With only a drummer and a keyboardist backing them up, Thundercat and Batiste played a loose, expansive version of “Dragonball Durag” together. Both of them got chances to veer off-script and to play some intense and clangorous solos. With Batiste especially, you could tell that he was really enjoying the chance to cut loose on TV. Watch the performance below.

Thundercat’s album It Is What It Is is out now on Brainfeeder.