Esperanza Spalding

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Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza Spalding on North Sea Jazz 2012.JPG
Spalding performing in 2012
Background information
Birth name Esperanza Emily Spalding
Born (1984-10-18) October 18, 1984 (age 39)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Genres Jazz, jazz fusion, bossa nova, neo soul, R&B
Occupation(s) Musician, composer, educator, bandleader
Instruments Vocals, double bass, bass guitar, violin, cello
Years active 2000–present[1]
Labels
Associated acts Stanley Clarke, Patti Austin, Joe Lovano
Website esperanzaspalding.com

Esperanza Emily Spalding[2] (born October 18, 1984[3]) is an American jazz bassist, cellist and singer, who draws upon many genres in her own compositions.

Spalding was raised in Portland, Oregon and was a musical prodigy at an early age, playing violin in the Chamber Music Society of Oregon at age five. She was later both self-taught and trained on multiple instruments, including guitar and bass. Her proficiency earned her scholarships to Portland State University and the Berklee College of Music.

She has won four Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 53rd Grammy Awards,[4] making her the first jazz artist to win the award.[5][6]

Biography

Early life and early education

Spalding was born in Portland, Oregon, to an African American father and a mother of Welsh, Native American, and Hispanic descent.[7][8] She was raised in the King neighborhood of Portland,[9] which at that time was majorly affected by gang violence.[10] Her mother raised her and her brother as a single parent.[11]

Spalding has an interest in the music of other cultures, including that of Brazil,[12] commenting: "With Portuguese songs, the phrasing of the melody is intrinsically linked with the language, and it's beautiful."[13] Spalding's mother shares her interest in music, having nearly become a touring singer herself.[11][14] But while Spalding cites her mother as a powerful influence who encouraged her musical expansion, she attributes her inspiration for pursuing a life in music to watching classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform on an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood when she was four.[11]

By the time Spalding was five, she had taught herself to play the violin and was playing with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon.[11] Spalding stayed with the group until she was 15, and left as concertmaster.[11] Due to a lengthy childhood illness, Spalding spent much of her elementary school years being homeschooled,[11] but also attended King Elementary School in northeast Portland.[9] During this time, she also found the opportunity to pick up instruction in music by listening to her mother's college teacher instructor, who instructed her mother in guitar.[13] According to Spalding, when she was about eight, her mother briefly studied jazz guitar in college. Spalding says: "Going with her to her class, I would sit under the piano. Then I would come home and I would be playing her stuff that her teacher had been playing."[13] Spalding also played oboe and clarinet before discovering the double bass in high school.[11][15] She sings in English, Spanish and Portuguese.[16]

Spalding began performing live in clubs in Portland, Oregon, as a teenager,[12] securing her first gig at 15 in a blues club, when she could play only one line on bass.[17] One of the seasoned musicians with which she played that first night invited her to join the band's rehearsals "so she could actually learn something," and her rehearsals soon grew into regular performances spanning almost a year.[17] According to Spalding, it was a chance for her to stretch as a musician, reaching and growing beyond her experience.[13] Her early contact with these "phenomenal resources," as she calls the musicians who played with her,[13] fostered her sense of rhythm and helped nurture her interest in her instrument.[17]

She does not consider herself a musical prodigy, having said, "I am surrounded by prodigies everywhere I go, but because they are a little older than me, or not a female, or not on a major label, they are not acknowledged as such."

Spalding had intended to play cello,[13] but discovered the bass during a one-year stint at age 14 at the performing arts high school, The Northwest Academy, to which she had won a scholarship.[17][18] The school was not a good fit, but the bass was.[17] Spalding found high school "easy – and boring" and dropped out. When she was 15 or 16 years old, Spalding started writing lyrics for music for the local indie rock/pop group Noise for Pretend, touching on any topic that came to mind.[19] Although she had taken a few private voice lessons, which taught her how to project her voice, her primary singing experience had come from "singing in the shower," she said,[19] before she started performing vocals for Noise for Pretend.[13] Her desire to perform live evolved naturally out of the compositional process, when she would sing and play simultaneously to see how melody and voice fit together, but she acknowledges that performing both roles can be challenging.[13][20] In a 2008 interview, she said, "[W]hat can be difficult is being a singer, in the sense that you are engaged with the audience, and really responsible for emoting, and getting into the lyrics, melody, etc., and being an effective bassist/band leader."[20]

Spalding left high school at 16, and after completing her GED, enrolled in a music scholarship in the music program at Portland State University, where she remembers being "the youngest bass player in the program."[11] Although she lacked the training of her fellow students, she feels that her teachers nevertheless recognized her talent.[11] She decided to apply to Berklee College of Music on the encouragement of her bass teacher, and did well enough in her audition to receive a full scholarship.[14][17] In spite of the scholarship, Spalding found meeting living expenses a challenge, so her friends arranged a benefit concert that paid her airfare and a little extra.[13][17]

Spalding's savings did not last long. Broke and exhausted,[21] she considered leaving music for political science,[14] a move jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny discouraged, telling Spalding she had "the 'X Factor'" and could make it if she applied herself.[14] During her time at Berklee, her primary bass instructor was John Lockwood.[citation needed]

2004–07: Musical beginnings, teaching and Junjo

Spalding performing at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, on July 12, 2007.

Gary Burton, Executive Vice President at Berklee, said in 2004 that Spalding had "a great time feel, she can confidently read the most complicated compositions, and she communicates her upbeat personality in everything she plays."[17]

Ben Ratliff wrote in The New York Times on July 9, 2006, that Spalding's voice is "light and high, up in Blossom Dearie's pitch range, and [that] she can sing quietly, almost in a daydream" and that Spalding "invents her own feminine space, a different sound from top to bottom."[22] Spalding was the 2005 recipient of the Boston Jazz Society scholarship for outstanding musicianship.[11] Almost immediately after graduation from college later the same year, Spalding was hired by Berklee College of Music, becoming one of the youngest instructors in the institution's history,[13] at age 20.[23] As a teacher, Spalding tries to help her students focus their practice through a practice journal, which can help them recognize their strengths and what they need to pursue.[13]

Her debut album, Junjo, was released on April 18, 2006, on the Ayva Music label.[24][25] It was created to display the dynamic that she felt among her trio.[19] Though Junjo was released solely under her name, Spalding considers it "a collaborative effort."[13]

2008–10: Esperanza

Spalding performing on December 10, 2009, at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert of 2009.

When asked in 2008 why she plays the bass instead of some other instrument, Spalding said that it was not a choice, but the bass "had its own arc" and resonated with her.[19] Spalding has said that, for her, discovering the bass was like "waking up one day and realizing you're in love with a co-worker."[13] By the time she randomly picked up the bass in music class and began experimenting with it, she had grown bored with her other instruments.[17][26] Her band teacher showed her a blues line for the bass that she later used to secure her first gig.[17] After that, she went in to play the bass daily and gradually fell in love.[13]

Ratliff wrote in The New York Times again, two years later, on May 26, 2008, that one of Spalding's central gifts is "a light, fizzy, optimistic drive that's in her melodic bass playing and her elastic, small-voiced singing," but that "the music is missing a crucial measure of modesty."[27] He added: "It's an attempt at bringing this crisscrossing [of Stevie Wonder and Wayne Shorter] to a new level of definition and power, but its vamps and grooves are a little obvious, and it pushes her first as a singer-songwriter, which isn't her primary strength."[27]

Pat Metheny said in 2008 it was immediately obvious "that she had a lot to say and was also unlike any musician I had ever run across before. Her unique quality is something that goes beyond her pretty amazing musical skills; she has that rare 'x' factor of being able to transmit a certain personal kind of vision and energy that is all her own."[21] Andrés Quinteros wrote in the Argentinian periodical, 26Noticias on October 28, 2008, that Spalding is one of the greatest new talents on the jazz scene today.[28] Patti Austin hired Spalding to tour with her internationally after Spalding's first semester at Berklee,[17] where Spalding supported the singer on the Ella Fitzgerald tribute tour "For Ella."[13]

In 2008 Spalding recalled the tour as educational, helping her learn to accompany a vocalist and also how to sustain energy and interest playing the same material nightly.[13] She continued to perform with Austin periodically for three years.[13] During the same period, while at Berklee, Spalding studied under saxophonist Joe Lovano, before eventually touring with him.[13] They began as a trio, expanding into a quartet before joining quintet US5 and traveling across the United States from New York to California.[13] As of 2008, she was also in the process of developing several courses for students at Berklee, including one that focuses "on transcribing as a tool for learning harmony and theory."[13] Due to touring commitments, Spalding stopped giving classes at Berklee. She lives in New York and Austin, Texas.

Spalding performing at the Northsea Jazz Festival, 2009.

Esperanza is Spalding's second studio album. Being exposed to many different cultural impressions while growing up, Spalding sings in three languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese.[29]

After Spalding's Grammy win in February 2011, the album entered the Billboard 200 at 138. With Esperanza, Spalding's material was meant to be more reflective of herself as an artist, with musicians selected to best present that material.[19] Ed Morales wrote in PopMatters on June 23, 2008, that Esperanza is "a sprawling collage of jazz fusion, Brazilian, and even a touch of hip-hop."[30] Siddhartha Mitter wrote in The Boston Globe on May 23, 2008, that "the big change" in Esperanza "is the singing.... This makes it a much more accessible album, and in some ways more conventional."[31]

On December 10 at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies, Spalding performed at Oslo City Hall in honor of the 2009 Laureate U.S. President Barack Obama, and again at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert the following day. She was personally selected by Obama, as per the tradition of one laureate-invited-artist to perform.[32]

Spalding also was the featured final act for the opening night of the 2009 Park City Jazz Festival in Park City, Utah. She closed the show with a number along with bass artists Brian Bromberg and Sean O'Bryan Smith, who also performed earlier that day.[33]

As a tribute to Prince, Spalding was invited to sing along with Patti LaBelle, Alicia Keys and Janelle Monáe. Spalding performed the 1987 hit single If I Was Your Girlfriend.[32][34]

On February 7, 2010, Spalding became the most searched person and second most searched item on Google Search as a result of her appearance the previous evening on the PBS television program Austin City Limits.[35][36]

Since 2011: Chamber Music Society and Radio Music Society

In November 2011, Spalding won "Jazz Artist of the Year" at the Boston Music Awards.[37]

Spalding collaborated with Tineke Postma on the track Leave Me a Place Underground from the album The Dawn of Light in 2011.[38]

She also collaborated with Terri Lyne Carrington on the album The Mosaic Project, where she features on the track Crayola.[39]

Spalding sings a duet with Nicholas Payton on the track Freesia from the 2011 album Bitches of Renaissance.[40][41]

In the 53rd 2011 Grammy Awards, Spalding won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, beating out then-teenage pop singer Justin Bieber, indie rock band Florence and the Machine, folk band Mumford and Sons and hip-hop artist Drake.[42][43] Bieber's fans targeted Spalding on the Internet, stating that she was not as popular as Bieber and that he should have won the award. They also vandalized her Wikipedia article.[44]

Chamber Music Society is the third album by Spalding. After her surprise Grammy win, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 34 with sales of 18,000.[45] A video was made for the song Little Fly.[46] The song is a poem by William Blake set to music by Spalding. A vinyl version of the album was released in February 2011. This version of the album included a bonus track, Morning, that is to be included in the tracklist of her upcoming Radio Music Society album.[47] Commenting on the album, NPR Music's Patrick Jarenwattananon wrote that, "the finished product certainly exudes a level of sophisticated intimacy, as if best experienced with a small gathering in a quiet, wood-paneled room."[48]

Spalding was the best-selling contemporary jazz artist of 2011, and her album Chamber Music Society was the best-selling contemporary jazz album.[49]

On February 26, 2012, Spalding performed at the 84th Academy Awards, singing the Louis Armstrong standard What a Wonderful World, alongside the Southern California Children's Chorus to accompany the video montage that celebrated the film industry greats who died in 2011 and early 2012.[50]

Radio Music Society is Spalding's fourth studio album, released by record label Heads Up International on March 20, 2012.[51][52][53] Spalding hoped this album would showcase jazz musicians in an accessible manner suitable for mainstream radio,[42] while incorporating her own musical compositions with covers of such artists as the Beach Boys and Wayne Shorter.

She also plans to record an album with Milton Nascimento in the future.[54]

Spalding appeared on Later... with Jools Holland.[55]

Spalding was featured on Janelle Monáe's album, The Electric Lady, on the track Dorothy Dandridge Eyes. The album was released on September 10, 2013. She also sang a jazz duet on Bruno Mars' album, Unorthodox Jukebox), called Old & Crazy.

In November 2013, Spalding released a protest/action single We Are America to protest the Guantánamo prison camps, with cameo performances by Stevie Wonder and Harry Belafonte.[56]

Artistry

Influences and attitude toward music and jazz

Spalding was mentored by Thara Memory.

She has cited jazz bassists Ron Carter and Dave Holland as important influences on her music—Carter for the "orchestration" of his playing and Holland for the way his compositional method complements his personal style.[57] She has described the saxophone player Wayne Shorter,[14] and singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento, as heroes.[58] She has also noted her preference for the music of Brazil.[14]

Spalding has said she loves fusion music and was influenced by a "wonderful arc that started 40 years ago where people kept incorporating modern sounds into their music."[30] Spalding, who has expressed a desire to be judged for her musicianship rather than her sex appeal, believes that female musicians must take responsibility to avoid oversexualizing themselves.[14][30] And, to write original music, one must read and stay informed about the world.[14] She has said she models her career on those of Madonna and Ornette Coleman.[13]

Spalding alternates between double bass and bass guitar in her performances.

Instruments

Electric bass

  • Fender Jaco Pastorius Jazz Bass (fretless)[59]
  • Godin A5 (semi-acoustic, 5-string, fretless)[59]
  • South Paw Fretless 5-string[60]

Double bass

  • 7/8 double bass (manufacturer unknown)[59]
  • Standard model S1 Czech-Ease acoustic road bass[61]

Philanthropy

During her 2012 tour, Spalding donated a portion of proceeds from merchandise sales to the non-profit organization Free the Slaves.[62] The organization, based in Washington, D.C., works to combat human trafficking around the world.

Discography

Solo albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
US
[63]		 US
Jazz
[64]		 CAN FRA
[65]		 NLD
[66]		 NOR
[67]		 SWE
[68]		 SWI
[69]
Junjo — — — — — — — —
Esperanza
  • Released: May 20, 2008
  • Label: Heads Up International
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 138 3 — — — 12 37 —
Chamber Music Society
  • Released: August 17, 2010
  • Label: Heads Up International
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
 34 1 81 92 50 13 — —
Radio Music Society
  • Released: March 20, 2012
  • Label: Heads Up International
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 10 1 41 54 59 33 — 75
Emily D+Evolution
  • Released: March 4, 2016
  • Label: Concord Records
  • Formats: CD, digital download, Vinyl
 — — — — — — — —

Music videos

List of music videos date released
Song Year
"Little Fly" July 15, 2011
"Black Gold" January 31, 2012
"Radio Song" March 19, 2012
"Crowned & Kissed" June 29, 2012
"I Can't Help It" July 3, 2012
"We Are America" November 18, 2013

Collaborative albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
US CAN NOR FRA SWI
Blanket Music
(with Noise For Pretend)		 – – – – –
Happy You Near
(with Noise For Pretend)		 – – – – –
Transfiguration of Vincent
(with M. Ward)		 – – – – –
Duende
(with Nando Michelin)		 – – – – –
The Toys of Men
(with Stanley Clarke)		 – – – – –
Big Neighborhood
(with Mike Stern)		 – – – – –
Reencontro
(with Nando Michelin)
  • Release date: January 4, 2010
  • Label: Blue Music Group
 – – – – –

Awards and nominations

Year Event Work Award Result
2011 Grammy Awards N/A Best New Artist Won
Boston Music Awards N/A Jazz Artist of the Year Won
2012 Smithsonian magazine's American Ingenuity Award N/A Performing Arts Won
2012 Soul Train Music Awards N/A Best Contemporary Jazz Artist/ Group Won
2013 Grammy Awards "Radio Music Society" Best Jazz Vocal Album Won
"Radio Music Society" Best Long Form Music Video Nominated
"City Of Roses" Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) Won
2014 Grammy Awards "Swing Low" Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) Won

References

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  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Esperanza Spalding has won the GRAMMY® Award for Best New Artist. Smooth Jazz Buzz. February 14, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  7. ↑ Ramírez, Deborah (August 14, 2008). "Touching Bass – Jazz Phenom Sings, Plays and Talks Norah Jones". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 11.9 "Biography". Esperanza Spalding.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Carpenter, Ellen (July 27, 2008). "Up to Her Ears: A Night Out with Esperanza Spalding". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18 13.19 13.20 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Dickens, Tad (February 4, 2009). "Pop, Funk and All That Jazz". The Roanoke Times.
  17. ↑ 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 Murphy, Sarah (April 2004). "Esperanza Spalding" (Archived June 6, 2011 at the Wayback Machine). Berklee College of Music.
  18. ↑ De Barros, Paul (January 15, 2008). "A Hopeful Outlook for Jazz – Esperanza Spalding". The Seattle Times.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 Knight, Nokware (July 30, 2008). "Esperanza Spalding Interview". Nu-Soul Magazine.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Billyjam (June 27, 2008). "Amoeblog Interview with Esperanza Spalding". Amoeblog.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Humphries, Stephen (May 30, 2008). "Jazz prodigy Esperanza Spalding, still eager to teach – and learn". The Christian Science Monitor.
  22. ↑ Ratliff, Ben (July 9, 2006). "Suite for Gas Pump and Coffin Lid". The New York Times.
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  25. ↑ Junjo – Review. Allmusic.
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  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Ratliff, Ben (May 26, 2008). "Critics' Choice; That Ladies' Man With Some New Lines". The New York Times.
  28. ↑ Quinteros, Andrés (October 28, 2008). "Esperanza Spalding y su jazz en Buenos Aires" (in Spanish). 26Noticias.
  29. ↑ Esperanza Spalding
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Mitter, Siddhartha (May 23, 2008). "Making a statement: Bassist Spalding adds lyrics to her many jazz talents". The Boston Globe.
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  35. ↑ "InsideLux: Esperanza Spalding: The Trendiest Artist According to Google". February 7, 2010.
  36. ↑ "Austin City Limits: Esperanza Spalding / Madeleine Peyroux (Full Episode)". Austin City Limits. PBS. February 5, 2010.
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  41. ↑ Allmusic.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ [1] "Esperanza Spalding Grammy Best New Artist 2011".
  44. ↑ "Esperanza Spalding Wins Grammy and New Middle Name". Perez Hilton.
  45. ↑ "The Week in Music Sales: Justin Bieber Scores Second No. 1 Album". The Hollywood Reporter.
  46. ↑ "Littly Fly Music Video on Concord Records". (via YouTube).
  47. ↑ Gerson, Robbie (June 8, 2011). "Grammy Award Winning Artist Releases Breakthrough Album on Vinyl". Audiophile Audition. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  48. ↑ Jarenwattananon, Patrick (August 8, 2010). "First Listen: Esperanza Spalding, 'Chamber Music Society'". NPR Music. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  49. ↑ [better source needed](December 14, 2011). "Billboard's Year Music". Esperanza Spalding. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Esperanza Spalding to Release ‘Radio Music Society’ on March 20
  52. ↑ Esperanza Spalding to Record 'Radio Music Society' Album in May.
  53. ↑ Esperanza Spalding Releasing New Album – Radio Music Society
  54. ↑ Graff, Gary (March 1, 2011). "Esperanza Spalding to Record 'Radio Music Society' Album in May". Billboard. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  55. ↑ Esperanza on Later... with Jools Holland.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 59.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  62. ↑ Free the Slaves blog.
  63. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  65. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  66. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  68. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  69. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  70. ↑ [2].[not in citation given]
  71. ↑ azcentral.com

Further reading

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Grammy Award for Best New Artist
2011		 Succeeded by
Bon Iver
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