Esperanza Spalding

Life and career

1984–2003: Early life and education

Esperanza Emily Spalding was born October 18, 1984, in Portland, Oregon, to an African American father and a mother of Welsh, Native American, and Hispanic descent. She was raised in the King neighborhood of northeast Portland, a neighborhood at that time known for gang violence. Her mother raised Spalding and her brother as a single parent. During her childhood, Spalding had juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and as a result spent much of her elementary school years being home-schooled, though she also attended King Elementary School in northeast Portland. During this period, Spalding found the opportunity to pick up instruction in music by listening to her mother's college professor, who instructed her mother in jazz guitar. Spalding said that she sometimes accompanied her mother to classes, sat listening under the piano, then at home repeated what the teacher had played. Spalding remained in the King neighborhood of Portland until age ten, when she relocated with her family to the suburbs of Portland.

Spalding's mother took note of her daughter's musical proclivity when Spalding was able to reproduce Beethoven by ear on the family's piano at a young age. Spalding herself credited watching classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform on an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as an integral part of her childhood, and it inspired her to pursue music.

Spalding also played oboe and clarinet in her youth before discovering the double bass while attending The Northwest Academy, a performing arts high school to which she had won a scholarship. She began performing live in clubs in Portland as a teenager,

Spalding dropped out of The Northwest Academy at the age of 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." In spite of the scholarship, Spalding found meeting living expenses a challenge, so her friends arranged a benefit concert that paid her airfare. Spalding's savings did not last long and she considered leaving music to study political science, a move jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny discouraged. He told her that she had "the 'X Factor'" and could make it if she applied herself. In 2002, she played bass on M. Ward's album Transfiguration of Vincent (Merge Records).

2004–2007: Career beginnings, teaching, and ''Junjo''

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."

Ben Ratliff wrote in The New York Times in 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." Spalding was the 2005 recipient of the Boston Jazz Society scholarship for outstanding musicianship. becoming one of the youngest instructors in the institution's history, at the age of 20. 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.

Her debut album, Junjo, was released in April 2006 by Ayva Music. It was created to display the dynamic that she felt among her trio. Though Junjo was released solely under her name, Spalding considers it a group effort.

2008–2010: ''Esperanza''

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. 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." Her band teacher showed her a blues line for the bass that she later used to secure her first gig. After that, she went in to play the bass daily and gradually fell in love.

Ratliff wrote in 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." 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."

Pat Metheny said in 2008 it was immediately obvious "that she had a lot to say [...] she has that rare 'x' factor of being able to transmit a certain personal kind of vision and energy that is all her own." 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.

Esperanza is Spalding's second studio album. 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. Siddhartha Mitter wrote in The Boston Globe that Spalding's singing was noticeably different in Esperanza, making it more mainstream and attractive to a broader audience.

In December 2009, at the 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 having one laureate-invited-artist perform.

Spalding was also 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. 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".

2011–2015: ''Chamber Music Society'' and ''Radio Music Society''

In 2011, Spalding collaborated with Tineke Postma on the track "Leave Me a Place Underground" from the album The Dawn of Light. She also collaborated with Terri Lyne Carrington on the album The Mosaic Project, where she features on the track "Crayola". Spalding also sang a duet with Nicholas Payton on the track "Freesia" from the 2011 album Bitches of Renaissance.

In the 53rd Grammy Awards that year, Spalding won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

Chamber Music Society is the third album by Spalding. After her Grammy win, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 34 with sales of 18,000. A video was made for the song "Little Fly". The song is a poem by William Blake set to music by Spalding. A vinyl version of the album was released in February 2011. 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."

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

In February 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.

Radio Music Society is Spalding's fourth studio album, released by Heads Up International in March 2012. Spalding hoped this album would showcase jazz musicians in an accessible manner suitable for mainstream radio.

In November 2013, Spalding released a single "We Are America" to protest the Guantánamo prison camps, with cameo performances by Stevie Wonder and Harry Belafonte. In 2015, she appeared on the NOVA production The Great Math Mystery, talking about the connection between music and mathematics.

2016–present: ''Emily's D+Evolution'', ''Exposure'', and ''12 Little Spells''

In March 2016, Spalding released her fifth studio album, Emily's D+Evolution, a concept album featuring a funk rock sound. The album was co-produced by Spalding with longtime David Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti. On the album, Spalding sings through the alter ego of Emily (which is her middle name and childhood moniker), who she claims is a personification of a newfound innocence and authenticity to her composition. The album and corresponding tour featured musicians Matthew Stevens on guitar, Justin Tyson and Karriem Riggins on drums.

In July 2017, Spalding was appointed a professor of the Practice of Music at Harvard University. Five months later, in December, Spalding released Exposure, which is her sixth studio album. For this project, she embarked on a creative experiment beginning on September 12, 2017, setting out to create the album from start to finish in 77 consecutive hours, while streaming the whole creative process live on Facebook. Once completed, she released 7,777 limited edition recordings of the album. The packaging of the physical album included a piece of the original notepaper Esperanza used to write the lyrics and music, allowing those who witnessed the process to own a piece of the creation itself, directly from the source. About the experiment, Spalding stated that the live aspect of it forced her to be more creative, because there was no option to return to the same thing and try again.

From October 7–18, 2018, Spalding released twelve tracks—one per day—that together form her seventh studio album, 12 Little Spells. Each "spell" was accompanied by a music video released on her YouTube channel and correlates to a singular body part. Spalding described the album's experimental structure as a result of her gradual distancing from the title of an "artist", gravitating towards a concept-driven identity. On January 27, 2020, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

In 2020 and 2021, Spalding worked with Wayne Shorter on a new operatic work titled Iphigenia, with Spalding writing the libretto. The opera premiered in select locations on both coasts of the United States in the fall of 2021 and in February 2022.

On September 24, 2022, National Sawdust hosted the premier of the opera, "A Good of Her Own Making," by Spalding and Jojo Abot.

On August 9, 2024, Spalding released a collaborative album, Milton + Esperanza, with Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento. In 2024, Spalding featured on the Odyssey album by Nubya Garcia.

Spalding was a nominee for the 2025 Grammys in the category of Jazz Vocal Album for her album Milton + Esperanza.

Artistry

Spalding has an interest in the music of other cultures, including that of Brazil, where she once spent a month learning Portuguese. She has said that the melody and language of songs in Portuguese are inextricably connected.

Influences

Spalding was mentored by Thara Memory. She has described the saxophone player Wayne Shorter,

Spalding has said she loves fusion music and was influenced by a "wonderful arc that started 40 years ago [in 2008] where people kept incorporating modern sounds into their music." Spalding says that her mom was and will always be her role model.

Instruments

;Electric bass

• Fender Jaco Pastorius Jazz Bass (fretless)
• South Paw Fretless 5-string
• Moollon Chambered Double P5 Fretless Bass

;Acoustic Bass Guitar

• Doolin ABG4
• Godin A5 (semi-acoustic, 5-string, fretless)

;Double bass

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

;Amplifiers

• Ampeg SVT-4PRO
• Ampeg PN-410HLF cab

;Strings

• Fender 9050M Stainless Steel Flatwound Long Scale (.055–.105)

Personal life

During her time as a student at Berklee she began dating fellow student and jazz trumpeter Christian Scott. They were in a relationship for four years. In a 2016 interview, Spalding stated she had residences in Brooklyn, New York, and Hillsboro, Oregon, the latter being where her family resides.

Philanthropy and social justice

During her 2012 tour, Spalding donated a portion of proceeds from merchandise sales to the non-profit organization Free the Slaves. The organization, based in Washington, D.C., works to combat human trafficking around the world. In 2013, she performed a benefit for the American Music Program Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra, a music program founded by her mentor, Thara Memory.

On September 4, 2018, Spalding performed a benefit for Bienestar, a local housing and outreach non-profit based in Hillsboro, Oregon. Several weeks later, she appeared with Herbie Hancock at the Lions of Justice Festival, sponsored by Soka Gakkai International, to support the respect and dignified treatment of all people.

Spalding also is an advocate for parks and open spaces, and is a supporter of The Trust for Public Land.

Departure from Harvard

In November 2022, Spalding announced via email to department members that she would be resigning from her position. She cited a lack of motivation amongst Harvard administrators to incorporate her changes to the curriculums she taught, as well as their unwillingness to redistribute some of its subjugated land to create a safe space for artists of color.

Discography

Main article: Esperanza Spalding discography

Studio albums

• Junjo (2006)
• Esperanza (2008)
• Chamber Music Society (2010)
• Radio Music Society (2012)
• Emily's D+Evolution (2016)
• Exposure (2017)
• 12 Little Spells (2018)
• Songwrights Apothecary Lab (2021)
• Alive at the Village Vanguard with Fred Hersch (2023)
• Milton + esperanza with Milton Nascimento (2024)

Accolades

References

Sources

References

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