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 Emilyboth 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 takea 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.
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Radio
- Bassisterhood - Companion Mixtape
- Born on the Cusp of Drama - Celebrating Esperanza Spalding, Bobby Troup and...
- Your Brain on Frets and More
- Highlights of Jazz in the Late 2000s (2004 - 2010)
- You Can Never Be Too Magical - Celebrating Esperanza Spalding
Live Review
Album Review
- Emily’s D+Evolution by Mark F. Turner
Live Review
Album Review
- Radio Music Society by Mark F. Turner
- Radio Music Society by Jeff Winbush
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
- 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
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