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Esperanza Spalding
Seven collaborative and five solo albums into her career at 31, Esperanza Spalding has always resolutely, intuitively, deftly expanded upon both her art and herself as a world-renowned genre- bending composer, bassist and vocalist. Spalding’s work, grounded in jazz traditions but never bound by them, has won her four Grammy awards and brought her onstage at the Oscars, the Nobel Prize Ceremony, the White House, and with Prince and Herbie Hancock. Not only does she know who she is, we know who she is.
Or, rather, we think we do. The elastic self and work of a true artist is always changing; ideas are channeled, shape-shifting becomes necessary. Emily’s D+Evolution (pronounced “d plus evolution”) is where we meet Emily—both Esperanza’s middle name and the label for the spirit- muse that flows through this multi-dimensional, theatrical performance artwork wrapped in a brilliantly urgent, vivacious record. With 6 tracks co-produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie) and drawing, at times, from wellsprings as disparate as Cream to Shostakovich to St. Vincent, Emily’s D+Evolution is a kaleidoscopic project; raw, honest, luminous.
"Whether you want to see it as devolution and evolution, and the place where they co-exist without one diminishing the other, or...barely having the tools that you need, but having to move forward, and having to keep moving," Spalding explained to NPR in a recent interview, the album conceptually addresses the always exciting, sometimes messy process of reconciling the aspects of our selves that are in conflict. Exploding with literal and proverbial electricity, this album’s complex but immediate compositions were committed to tape partially live, and partially in front of a control room packed full of 20 or more onlookers. The trio of Spalding (fretless electric bass and vocals), Matthew Stevens (electric guitar) and Justin Tyson and Karriem Riggins (splitting drum duties) often decided to use the first take—a testament to the project’s particular energy and Spalding’s virtuosity. Many of the compositions on Emily’s D+Evolution were, after all, incubated onstage during the rigorous live performance schedule that preceded it.
Armed with the entity of Emily flowing through her, Spalding’s visionary performance of the album is an experience to behold and an integral part of the project itself. Here, Spalding is, for the first time, incorporating stage design, movement and acting into her already vivid musical storytelling practice. She’s working with stage director and playwright Will Wiegler to manifest her concepts physically now that they’ve come to life aurally.
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Milton Nascimaento & Esperanza Spalding, Plus Andrew Bird, Andy Statman, Riccardo Tesi And Much More From Around The World
by Cliff Furnald
We start off with a wonderful new album from Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spaulding, then move through music from Ireland, India, France, The US, Norway, Hungary, Denmark, Italy and more. ...
Continue ReadingEsperanza Spalding with Antonio Brown Dance At Benaroya Hall
by Paul Rauch
Esperanza Spalding with Antonio Brown Dance Benaroya Hall jny:Seattle, WA August 4, 2024 Attending a concert usually is accompanied by familiarity with the performing artist, as well as familiarity with the works they are currently presenting on their tour. For the Seattle stop on bassist /composer Esperanza Spalding's current tour, familiarity seemed to be a factor replaced by mystery. In conversations around the grand lobby of Benaroya Hall, the city's symphony hall, jazz fans and ...
Continue ReadingMilton Nascimento / Esperanza Spalding: Milton + esperanza
by Chris May
Sometimes the semiology around an album can tell you more about it than any amount of words attempting to describe the music itself. And the semiology around Milton + esperanza is eloquent. It begins with the overlap with another summer 2024 release, Wayne Shorter's magical double-album Celebration Volume 1 (Blue Note), a previously unreleased recording of Shorter's Quartet in concert in 2014, with liner notes written by Shorter's wife Carolina. Now consider the overlap. Wayne Shorter recorded with ...
Continue ReadingShabaka Hutchings: Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace
by Chris May
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes ... Since signing with with Impulse! in 2018, Shabaka Hutchings has become best known for his incendiary work on tenor saxophone with Sons Of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming and Shabaka & The Ancestors. Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace marks the start of a gentler, more instrospective phase in his music making. The trigger came during the pandemic, when Hutchings fell in love with the Japanese shakuhachi flute. The quietly spoken instrument first edged itself ...
Continue ReadingSing, Sing a Song
by Patrick Burnette
Time for an all-singing, no-dancing, some joke-telling show featuring four female vocalists. We've got three brand newish releases and one catalogue item which, given it debuted after we were out of college, is making us feel old. Like everything else. Tune in to find out which Grammy Winner™ we annoy. Playlist Discussion of Holly Cole's album Blame It On My Youth (Manhattan) 2:04 Discussion of Lizzie Thomas' album Duo Encounters (Dot Time) 17:15 Discussion of Nadia Washington's album ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding at Jazz Alley
by Paul Rauch
Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding Jazz Alley Seattle, WA January 24, 2023 The musical union of pianist Fred Hersch and bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding at first evokes images of the iconic pianist playing duo with one of the prominent voices of twenty-first century jazz, a bassist of note and a formidable vocalist. But as is exemplified on their new recording, Alive at the Village Vanguard (Palmetto, 2023), the current tour features Hersch with Spalding ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding: Alive at the Village Vanguard
by John Chacona
Is it possible that we underestimate Esperanza Spalding? That would be quite a trick for an artist who has hardly been out of the spotlight since leapfrogging a couple of nobodies named Drake and Justin Bieber to take the Grammy award for Best New Artist in 2011. With a recent resume that includes a high-profile teaching position at Harvard (now ended), a collaboration with preeminent jazz composer Wayne Shorter on the opera Iphigenia" and a fifth Grammy for 2022's Songwrights ...
Continue ReadingEsperanza Spalding and William Parker Perform At Mind-Builders 40th Anniversary Gala On November 3 At Lehman College
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
Mind-Builders 40th Anniversary Gala with Esperanza Spalding on November 3 at Lehman College Lehman Stages/Lovinger Theatre 250 Bedford Park Blvd. West Bronx, NY 10468 Magic...pure imagination and also incredibly tactile." —NPR Music Mind-Builders 40th Anniversary Gala at Lehman College celebrate the 40th anniversary of Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center at Lovinger Theater at our first ever Gala event. 5:30 PM: VIP Reception includes Meet The Artists 7:00 PM: Performances with Audience/Artist Q&A Performances by special celebrity guests/honorees ...
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Watch Grammy Winner Esperanza Spalding Record Her New Album In 77 Hours On Facebook Live
Source:
HypeBot
Making an album is tough, tough work and doing it in the spotlight is even tougher. Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding is ripping the veil off the process by broadcasting it all on Facebook live and adding the extra pressure of a 77 hour deadline. WATCH: Over just three days, we're attempting to concept, write, record, and produce an album of ten songs. Entering the studio with nothing prepared. Testing the theory that creations are at their most powerful the moment ...
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Esperanza Spalding Headlines Free Concert At Celebrate Brooklyn!
Source:
Matt Gross
BRIC is pleased to announce that Esperanza Spalding will headline a free concert at the Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival (Prospect Park Bandshell, 9th St. & Prospect Park West), which is presented by Squarespace, on Friday, June 12. The concert, free to the public (with a suggested $3 contribution at the gate), begins at 7:30 P.M. with an opening performance by acclaimed vocalist José James. The captivating bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding’s “sprawling collage of jazz fusion, Brazilian, and even ...
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BRIC Announces 2015 Celebrate Brooklyn! Lineup including Esperanza Spalding And Ghost Train Orchestra
Source:
Matt Gross
CELEBRATE BROOKLYN! 2015 LINEUP WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 8:00 P.M. Chaka Khan Opening Night Concert (FREE) With ten Grammys, ten #1 Billboard hits, 22 albums, and a career spanning 40 years and influencing countless other singers, Chaka Khan truly is the “Queen of Funk.” Songs from her time with multiracial trailblazers Rufus and as a solo artist —“Tell Me Something Good,” “Ain’t Nobody,” “I’m Every Woman,” and “I Feel for You” to name just a few — are dance floor staples ...
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Esperanza Spalding, Kenny Werner To Play A "Concert To Feed The Hungry"
Source:
Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
ESPERANZA SPALDING, KENNY WERNER TO PLAY A CONCERT TO FEED THE HUNGRY" Friday, April 25, 2014 at 7:00 PM Interchurch Center - 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY On Friday, April 25, 2014 at 7:00 p.m., Esperanza Spalding and Kenny Werner, two world-renowned jazz artists, will headline at Buddhist Global Relief's annual Concert To Feed The Hungry." The concert raises much-needed awareness and funds to support the global fight to end hunger and malnutrition. In addition to their prolific output ...
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Esperanza Spalding “Radio Music Society” To Headline At Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival On Saturday June 23 Tickets On Sale Friday April 13th
Source:
Dalmath Associates Inc.
Rochester, NY: Esperanza Spalding made her debut at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival in 2007 performing in the Club Pass Series at Max of Eastman Place. Five years later, the GRAMMY Award-winning Best New Artist will headline at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre on Saturday June 23 at 8 p.m. The young bassist/vocalist/composer was one of the biggest breakout stars of 2011not just in jazz, but in all genres of music. Her receipt of the 2010 GRAMMY for Best ...
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Enough With The Search For A "Jazz Savior"
Source:
Groove Notes
Every so often, a barrage of articles and blog posts come out claiming that jazz has found the musician or musicians that are going to “save” jazz. More often than not, these musicians are achieving some current commercial success and popularity among a broad audience outside of the typical “jazz head” community. The newest jazz savior? Recently, bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding and keyboardist Robert Glasper have been deemed the new saviors of jazz. Both are very talented instrumentalists, and it is ...
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Esperanza Spalding: 2012 Tour
Source:
JamBase
ESPERANZA SPALDING ROLLS OUT 2012 TOUR PLANS Esperanza Spalding has announced world tour dates beginning April 18, 2012, as the bassist, vocalist and composer unveils her new release, Radio Music Society into a dynamic big band" format. Fans of Spalding who purchase tickets through Ticketmaster will receive a free song download of City of Roses" from Radio Music Society, and in celebration of Black History Month, can purchase the e-single Black Gold" (which includes a music video) on iTunes beginning ...
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Esperanza Spalding Releases "Radio Music Society" On March 20
Source:
AAJ Staff
On March 20th, 2012, Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group, gives us Esperanza Spalding's latest release, Radio Music Society, her most diverse, ambitious and masterful recital yet. Each of the 12 songs are accompanied by conceptual music videos, which further express Esperanza's inspiration and story behind each track. Shot in various locations including New York City; Barcelona, Spain; and Portland, Oregon; all videos will be available to purchasers of Radio Music Society as a digital download or ...
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Esperanza Spalding Wins Jazz Artist of the Year at Boston Music Awards
Source:
MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts
Jazz bassist, singer and composer Esperanza Spalding won the Jazz Artist of the Year award at the annual Boston Music Awards ceremony held at the Liberty Hotel on Sunday, November 20, 2011. The Boston Herald has a for a full list of winners in all of the categories. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Spalding has won several important awards this year. In October she won the DownBeat Readers Poll for Jazz Artist of the Year, and in February ...
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- Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
“Ms. Spalding is still enamored of Wayne Shorter’s harmonic depth and Stevie Wonder’s melodic lift, but her frame of reference has broadened in salutary ways: ‘Funk Your Fear’ ha(s) the serpentine gnarl of a Funkadelic anthem, and ‘Noble Nobles’ brazenly evoke(s) Hejira-era Joni Mitchell.”—NY Times
Fini Bearman
vocalsPepa Niebla
vocalsNiebla
vocalsLaila Biali
piano and vocalsRachael Thoms
vocalsJess Baldwin
vocalsLinhares
vocalsEmily Braden
vocalsGretchen Elise
composer / conductorJudith Nijland
vocalsHenk Kraaijeveld
vocalsJanet Evra
vocalsKonstantin Ivchuk
guitarEtsuko Tajima
pianoGloria Yehilevsky
vibraphoneNadine Axisa
vocalsJoy Ellis
pianoThe Aubrey Wilson Quartet
vocalsVanessa Vacanti
vocalsMarc Crofts
violinIrini Konstantinidi
vocalsLuciana Morelli
vocalsGermana Stella La Sorsa
vocalsLaura-Simone Martin
violinLura
vocalsCOPUS
band / ensemble / orchestraAdam Beaudoin
vocalsHila Hutmacher
vocalsLaura Marti
vocalsSofia Goodman
drumsEric Todd
producerÁngela Varo
violinheal xo
vocalsPhotos
Music
But Not for Me
From: Alive at the Village VanguardBy Esperanza Spalding