"(I enjoyed the Grammys again this year...)
(I'll see myself out...)"
-Shriner
That comment made me laugh out loud.
I did not watch The Grammys. The Oscars, even without "The Slap Heard 'Round The World," put me off award shows for good. As someone who lives and breathes music, The Grammys make me hate music for a day or two. But that's for another time.
I did happen to see Jon Batiste's Album Of The Year speech and I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed the music of most of the nominees.
"I believe this to my core," Batiste said. "Best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor.... The creative arts are subjective and they reach people at a point in their lives when they need it most. It's like a song or an album is made and it almost has a radar to find the person when they need it the most."
He continued, "I just put my head down and I work on the craft every day. I love music. I've been playing since I was a little boy. It's more than entertainment for me. It's a spiritual practice."
As music lovers, we don't really need validation. But the idea that records find you, regardless of worth or popularity, really hit home.
The first time I saw Jon Batiste perform, he was 17 years old and playing organ with my friend Maurice Brown at the now sadly defunct Funky Butt on N. Rampart in New Orleans. The downstairs area of the Butt is tight. (Yes, I'm still talking about the club.) Maurice's band Soul'd U Out took up most of the floor, with Terence Higgins on drums, Devin Phillips on sax, and New Orleans legend David Torkanowksy on second keyboard. (I am missing a few members, but it was 18 years ago.) The band was backed up against the French windows that opened out onto the street of the club, and once they started playing, people gathered in front. I was inside and watched this band explode. "Tork" had arrived late, and climbed through the windows, over the drum set, on top of Batiste's organ and plopped into his seat behind his keyboard and fell into the groove without missing a note. As memorable as that entrance was, we all left the club that night completely in awe of Jonathan Batiste.
Is "We Are," Batiste's award winning album of the year, really the best of all? Is it the best of the five nominees? Were those nominees really the best of all the music we have listened to in the past year?
Probably not.
But I could not be happier for Jon Batiste. This was a long time coming and his words expressed what I have felt since I held my first Beatles' record way back when.
Music is more than entertainment. It's a spiritual practice.
Now excuse me, while I fire up the turntable and get to work.
8 comments:
Thanks Sal, I needed that.
Silk Sonic and Olivia Rodrigo won awards and had awesome performances on the Grammys. Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak were beyond cool. The in Memoriam tribute to Sondheim with "Somewhere" brought a lump to my throat (but that song always does...)
Admittedly, I have not heard one note of Batiste's album and he certainly seemed shocked that he won compared to what he was up against, but the song he performed was fab. And while the music of BTS doesn't do much for me, they know how to put on a performance.
The Grammys -- as a show -- was great this year (unlike last year's show which tried hard to put on a event during a pandemic, but it felt off because of that.) The only misfire (I thought) was Lady Gaga's tribute to Tony Bennett. That just didn't work for some reason.
I'll tune in next year as always. Count on it. :-)
Silk Sonic always impresses. They're so awesome!
paulinca
Silk Sonic is everything great about pop music that most other pop music is not.
(or something like that)
Music is a "spiritual practice" - great quote.
As usual...
I scroll down the list of nominees and am pleasantly surprised when someone I like is nominated.
I never expect them to win any major awards.
I can't tell you anything about most of the nominees for the major awards. Not a critique of those people.
I didn't watch the show.
Anyway, I was very surprised and happy to see Jon Batiste win. Great acceptance speech!
I agree with Shriner's review. I love Gaga's relationship with Tony but the performance was hyperkinetic and felt sweaty and strained. Still, it's heart was in the right place.
Jon Batiste is someone who is fairly new to me, but he's clearly immensely talented and I'm glad he won. It's not exactly what the kids are listening to these days, but that's not the point. It's hard to be mad at someone who channels that much joy through music.
I didn't watch it at all but lets not forget to mention Cedric Burnside and Los Lobos winning Grammy's.
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