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.

Esperanza Spalding presents: Emily's D+Evolution at Tilles Center for the...

Album Reviews

Chamber Music Society by Eugene Holley, Jr.
Chamber Music Society by Ernest Barteldes

Live Reviews

Album Reviews

Esperanza by Woodrow Wilkins

Profiles

Esperanza Spalding: Shining and Exploring

Album Reviews

Esperanza by Ernest Barteldes
Esperanza by Jeff Winbush
Junjo by Jim Santella
Junjo by Jeff Dayton-Johnson

October 26, 2018

Esperanza Spalding and William Parker Perform At Mind-Builders 40th...

September 14, 2017

Watch Grammy Winner Esperanza Spalding Record Her New Album In 77 Hours...

June 02, 2015

Esperanza Spalding Headlines Free Concert At Celebrate Brooklyn!

April 29, 2015

BRIC Announces 2015 Celebrate Brooklyn! Lineup including Esperanza...

March 10, 2014

Esperanza Spalding, Kenny Werner To Play A "Concert To Feed The Hungry"

June 05, 2012

Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival Starts June 22 -- 9 Days,...

April 11, 2012

Esperanza Spalding “Radio Music Society” To Headline At Xerox...

April 04, 2012

Enough With The Search For A "Jazz Savior"

February 08, 2012

Esperanza Spalding: New Video

January 18, 2012

Esperanza Spalding: 2012 Tour

January 06, 2012

Esperanza Spalding Releases "Radio Music Society" On March 20

December 08, 2011

Maggie Scott Tribute at Berklee on December 8 Features Esperanza...

November 22, 2011

Esperanza Spalding Wins Jazz Artist of the Year at Boston Music Awards

March 02, 2011

Esperanza Spalding on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

February 26, 2011

Berklee Jazz Students React to Esperanza Spalding's Grammy Award

February 15, 2011

Berklee's Esperanza Spalding Wins Grammy Award for Best New Artist

February 14, 2011

Esperanza Spalding Smashes Grammy Precedent

February 09, 2011

Esperanza Spalding to perform at the GRAMMY Awards

February 06, 2011

Esperanza Spalding up for Best New Artist Grammy, Co-Host Pre-Telecast...

February 03, 2011

A Grammy Twist That's Good for Jazz

Those following jazz ought to keep an ear on the bassist ESPERANZA SPALDING, who is going about things her own way. She's got good tone and conservatory training, but so does everyone else these days. More important, she already sounds distinct. Essentially she's a singer, using both her instrument and her voice to similar ends. Her musicality is all integrated: The Esperanza Spalding experience is light, melodic, joyful, always sort of minimalist and airborne.”

- 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

“...a fresh artistic vision for the four-time Grammy winner, a daring tapestry of music, vibrant imagery, performance art and stage design.”—Ebony

“Emily’s D+Evolution is more than a recording project, it’s an awakening of her inner child