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Esperanza Spalding Wiki Information
Esperanza Spalding
(born October 18, 1984 in Portland, Oregon- [1] [2]) is an American jazz bassist and singer.
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ESPERANZA SPALDING TICKETS
| EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
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| Esperanza Spalding Tickets 1/24 | Jan 24, 2025
Fri, 8:00 PM |  | | Esperanza Spalding Tickets 1/25 | Jan 25, 2025
Sat, 8:00 PM | | | Esperanza Spalding Tickets 1/26 | Jan 26, 2025
Sun, 8:00 PM | | | Esperanza Spalding Tickets 2/18 | Feb 18, 2025
Tue, 8:00 PM | | | Esperanza Spalding Tickets 2/18 | Feb 18, 2025
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Biography
Early life and education
Spalding grew up in the King neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, [3] a neighborhood she herself describes as "ghetto" and "pretty scary." [4] Her mother, who raised her and her brother as a single parent, was an independent, industrious woman. [5]
Spalding is of African-American, Welsh and Spanish descent, [6] and describes this as a diverse ethnic heritage that includes "Welsh, Hispanic, and Native American roots in addition to the unidentified roots from Africa." [
Her black roots come from her father: "My mom is Welsh, Hispanic, and Native American, and my father is black." (Source from: http://www.bassplayer.com/article/only-24-jazz/may-08/35479)
Her Hispanic roots trace through her mother, a native of Southern California, who indirectly educated Spalding in Spanish by hiring a Cuban nanny. [7] Spalding notes that these influences, along with many other factors in her life, have come together to shape her into who she is.][ She also has an interest in other cultures, including Brazil, [8] and respects the artistry inherent in language, commenting specifically, "With Portuguese songs the phrasing of the melody is intrinsically linked with the language, and it’s beautiful". [9]
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Her mother shares Spalding's interest in music, having nearly become a touring singer herself.[
]
By the time Spalding was five, she had taught herself to play the violin and was playing with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon.[ Spalding stayed with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon until she was fifteen and left as concertmaster.][ Due to a lengthy illness when she was child, Spalding spent much of her elementary school years being homeschooled,][ but also attended King Elementary School in Northeast Portland.][ Spalding also played oboe and clarinet before discovering the bass in high school.][ She is able to sing in English, Spanish and Portuguese. [11]
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Discovering the bass
Spalding had intended to play cello,[ but discovered the bass during a one year stint at age 14 at the prestigious performing arts high school, The Northwest Academy, to which she had won a scholarship. [12] [13] The school was not a good fit, but the bass was.][ Spalding found high school "easy — and boring" and dropped out. When asked in 2008 why she plays the bass instead of some other instrument, Spalding said that it wasn't a choice, but the bass "had its own arc" and resonated with her. [14] Spalding says that for her discovering the bass was like "waking up one day and realizing you’re in love with a co-worker."][ 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.][ [15] Her band teacher showed her a blues line for the bass which she later used to secure her first gig.][ After that, she went in to play the bass daily and gradually fell in love.][
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Singing with Noise for Pretend
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.[ Although she had taken a few private voice lessons which taught her how to protect her voice, her primary singing experience had come from "singing in the shower", she said,][ before she started performing vocals for Noise for Pretend.][ 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.][ [16] 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."]College
Spalding left high school at 16 and after completing her GED enrolled on a music scholarship in the music program at Portland State University, where she remembers being "the youngest bass player in the program."[ Although she lacked the training of her fellow students, she feels that her teachers nevertheless recognized her talent.][ She decided to instead 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.][
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But the money didn't last long, and being at Berklee wasn't always easy for Spalding, who had to carry her bass two miles to a train station as part of long commute.[ Broke and exhausted, [17] she considered leaving music and entering political science,]
Touring
Spalding had begun performing live in clubs in Portland, Oregon as a teenager,[ 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.][ According to Spalding, it was a chance for her to stretch as a musician, reaching and growing beyond her experience.][ Her early contact with these "phenomenal resources", as she calls the musicians who played with her,][ fostered her sense of rhythm and helped nurture her interest in her instrument.][
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Patti Austin hired Spalding to tour with her internationally after Spalding's first semester at Berklee,[ where Spalding supported the singer on the Ella Fitzgerald tribute tour "For Ella".][ 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.][ She would rejoin Austin periodically for three years.][
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Also while at Berklee, Spalding studied under saxophonist Joe Lovano before eventually touring with him.[ They began as a trio, expanding into a quartet before joining quintet US5 and traveling across the United States from New York to California.][
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She does not consider herself a musical prodigy.[ "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," says Spalding.][
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Teaching
Almost immediately after graduation from college, in 2005, Spalding was hired by Berklee College of Music, becoming one of the youngest professors in the institution's history. [18] 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.[ 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".][
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Personal life
Spalding currently lives in New Jersey. [19]
Recordings
Spalding has recorded two albums Junjo
(2006) and Esperanza
(2008).[ [20] The first was created to display the dynamic that she felt among her trio.][ Though Junjo
was released solely under her name, Spalding considers it "a collaborative effort."][ With Esperanza
, Spalding's material was meant to be more reflective of herself as an artist, with musicians selected to best present that material.][ 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."][ Siddhartha Mitter wrote in the Boston Globe
in May 23, 2008 that "the big change" in Esperanza
"is the singing..... This makes "Esperanza Spalding" a much more accessible album, and in some ways more conventional." [21]
]
In addition to these albums, Spalding has collaborated with Fourplay, Stanley Clarke, Christian Scott, Donald Harrison, Joe Lovano, Nino Josele, Nando Michelin, and Theresa Perez.[
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Honors
Spalding is the 2005 recipient of the Boston Jazz Society scholarship for outstanding musicianship.[
]
Praises
Ben Ratliff wrote in the New York Times
on July 9, 2006 that Spaldings voice is "light and high, up in Blossom Dearie's pitch range, and she can sing quietly, almost in a daydream" and that Spalding "invents her own feminine space, a different sound from top to bottom." [22]
Ratliff wrote in the New York Times 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." [23] 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."[
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Andrés Quinteros wrote in 26Noticias on October 28, 2008 that Spalding is one of the greatest new talents on the jazz scene today. [24]
Influences and attitude towards music and jazz
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."[ 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."]
Spalding cites 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. She has described the saxophone player Wayne Shorter as a hero.
Spalding says 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."[ She has expressed concerns that jazz has wandered from its roots, suggesting that jazz has lost its street value and its relevance to "the Black experience to the Black Diaspora and beyond" now that has been co-opted by the "seasoned 'art' community."][ She notes that in its early days, jazz was "popular dance music" and "the music of young people who considered themselves awfully hip", indicating her belief that hip-hop or Neo-Soul play a similar role today to that once played by jazz.][
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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 over sexualizing themselves.[ If she had a preference, she says she'd prefer to be linked in "popular music" on prominent display with artists like Beyonce.]
Unsurprisingly, she doesn't limit herself in choosing what artists she would model her career on: wanting a blend of Madonna and Ornette Coleman, who are self-confident musicians.[ She stresses the importance of remaining informed in writing music.]
Discography
As a leader
- 2006: Junjo
- 2008: Esperanza
With Noise for Pretend
- 2001: Blanket Music/Noise For Pretend
- 2002: Happy You Near
With Stanley Clarke
With Nando Michelin Trio
With M. Ward
- 2003: Transfiguration of Vincent
See also
References
- "Esperanza Spalding: Why you should know who she is…". - Vivre Magazine.com. - October 19, 2008.
—Esperanza Spalding. - imeem. - Biography
- Bancud, Michaela (December 14, 2001). - "Esperanza in the Wings". - ''Portland Tribune''.
- Symister-Masterson, Cheryl K., (September 2006). - "Esperanza Spalding: It's Natural". - ''Jazz Review''.
- "Biography". - Esperanza Spalding Official Web Site.
- Ramírez, Deborah (August 14, 2008). - "Touching Bass - Jazz Phenom Sings, Plays and Talks Norah Jones". - ''South Florida Sun-Sentinel''.
- Morales, Ed (June 23, 2008). - "Esperanza Spalding's debut picks up where jazz fusion of the 1970s left off". - ''Pop Matters''.
- Carpenter, Ellen (July 27, 2007). - Up to Her Ears: A Night Out with Esperanza Spalding". - ''The New York Times''.
- Esperanza Spalding
- In Conversation with Esperanza Spalding
- Dickens, Tad (February 4, 2009). - "Pop, Funk and All That Jazz". - ''The Roanoke Times''.
- Murphy, Sarah (April 2004). - "Esperanza Spalding". - Berklee College of Music.
- De Barros, Paul (January 15, 2008). - "A Hopeful Outlook for Jazz - Esperanza Spalding". - ''The Seattle Times''.
- Knight, Nokware (July 30, 2008). - "Esperanza Spalding Interview". - ''Nu-Soul Magazine''.
- Esperanza Spalding: Voice of the Bass
- Billyjam (June 27, 2008). - "Amoeblog Interview with Esperanza Spalding". - Amoeblog.
- Humphries, Stephen (May 30, 2008). - "Jazz prodigy Esperanza Spalding, still eager to teach – and learn". - ''Christian Science Monitor''.
- At Only 24, Jazz Phenom Esperanza Spalding Has The Ultimate 'X-Factor'
- Lopez, Luciana (June 8, 2008). - "In Control of the Music, In Many Expressions". - ''The Oregonian''.
- Debut Album Shows Off Esperanza Spalding's Multiple Talents
- Mitter, Siddhartha (May 23, 2008). - "Making a statement: Bassist Spalding adds lyrics to her many jazz talents". - ''The Boston Globe''.
- Ratliff, Ben (July 9, 2006). - "Suite for Gas Pump and Coffin Lid". - ''The New York Times.
- Ratliff, Ben (May 26, 2008). - Critics' Choice: "That Ladies' Man With Some New Lines". - ''The New York Times''.
- Quinteros, Andrés (October 28, 2008)."Esperanza Spalding y su jazz en Buenos Aires". - ''26Noticias''. - {{es}}.
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