I took the evening off from putzing around the house on Sunday to take in the annual Grammy Awards.
Annual award shows (the Oscars/Grammys/CMA Country Music awards/etc.) have always been a highlight to watch. I must have been born with ‘stars in my eyes’ as the glitz and glamour of Hollywood always has captivated my attention, probably something I inherited from my mother.
Anyways, just a short time ago due to circumstances, I was unable to watch this year’s Oscars and missed the highlight of the evening when Will Smith smacked Chris Rock for a comment he made on stage, and then Smith’s heartfelt acceptance speech for the Oscar award apparently after he was asked by the Academy to leave the ceremony. This confrontation on the world stage has presented a big scandal in the rich and famous world…anyways, enough about that.
Now a little more about the 64th annual Grammy awards. The first thing I realized is that I must be getting old, as I hardly recognized any or what genre the musicians represented…almost a totally new generation of creativity. I can honestly say I wasn’t disappointed but pleasantly surprised.
A pop music icon that was musical lead on the Stephen Colbert show - Jon Batiste won five Grammies. There’s really something special about this guy…it’s his charisma, his perceived kindness, his smile and energy and the genre of his light-hearted and jovial music… that brought my thoughts to the generation following the world wars and the correlation to this time in history.
To me this is significant.
Rock n’ Roll hit the stage approximately 1950 bringing energy and an upbeat tempo to the post-war times. Now in history, we are seemingly post-pandemic but again provoked by the possibility of another world encompassing war, financial problems encompassing rising inflation, the possibility of food, gas and goods shortages, and the problems go on and on…
Jon Batiste had 11 nominations coming out with five awards, walking away with the Grammy’s top prize of Album of the Year. He stated in his acceptance speech that there shouldn’t be such things as best new artist, best actor or best record because art is subjective. "They have like a radar to reach that person when they need it the most," Batiste says. In regard to music, "it's more than entertainment for me – it's a spiritual practice."
Upon leaving the stage he also said, “Be you. That's it…”
“In the press room following his wins, Batiste was asked about the ‘duality’ of the moment given the situation in his personal life [his longtime girlfriend and now wife is going through leukemia treatments for the second time].
"It puts it in perspective. Life has ups and downs. And sometimes the ups and downs occur at the same time," he said. "And when you have that happening, it really lets you know by shaking your consciousness and saying, 'Be present. Be here.' So what's going on back home and what's happening today are both in their proper place for me."
https://people.com/music/grammys-2022-foo-fighters-her-jon-batiste-chris-stapleton-nas-performs/
His perception of being present in life as it comes seems to be a good one. Everyone in life has their hills and valleys to go through but we should learn to keep everything in perspective because each day is a ‘present’ and we should be thankful for that.
