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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.
Read moreLive Reviews
Album Reviews
- Emily’s D+Evolution by Mark F. Turner
Live Reviews
Album Reviews
- Radio Music Society by Mark F. Turner
- Radio Music Society by Jeff Winbush
Interviews
Live Reviews
Album Reviews
- Chamber Music Society by Eugene Holley, Jr.
- Chamber Music Society by Ernest Barteldes
Live Reviews
Album Reviews
- Esperanza by Woodrow Wilkins
Profiles
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
January 18, 2012
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
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
Photos (220) Slideshow
Upcoming Shows
| Date | Detail |
|---|---|
| Apr28Sun |
Esperanza SpaldingBoulder TheaterBoulder, CO |
| May1Wed |
Leo Genovese, Jack DeJohnette, Esperanza Spalding, Joe...City Winery - ChicagoChicago, IL |
Discography
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Last Updated: October 27, 2018
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