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Her name means hope in Spanish and that is what this young bass player/singer/songwriter is doing for the future of the jazz world
[From the NPR article "Esperanza Spalding: Voice of the Bass". Click here to read the full article.] There are many gifted singers in jazz today, and no shortage of accomplished acoustic bass players. But few jazz artists can be both. Esperanza Spalding's new album, Esperanza, blends her soaring vocals and her deep bass lines. At 23, Spalding has already built an impressive resume: She earned a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and graduated a year early to become the youngest faculty member in the school's history, and she's also played with jazz legends such as Patti Austin, Pat Metheny, and Herbie Hancock. With her outsized afro and jangly earrings, Spalding recently stopped by NPR's Washington, D.C., headquarters to speak with Michele Norris. |
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Her musical journey began on the much smaller classical violin, but by the time she got to high school, she says was bored musically — until she had a chance encounter with an instrument much bigger than her. "One day I went into the high school, into the high school that I went into, and the bass was just — it's kind of funny, it was kind of heavenly, you know?" she says. "I walk into this room, and it literally — it's kind of below street level, and light was shining in, and the bass was just there with no case on it, because they just bought it. And I walked into the room and picked it up and just started playing. "And at the same time, my music teacher came in and showed me basically what a blues form was, and I just kind of started making anything up," she adds. "And pretty much from that moment, I said, 'Wow, this is — in these five minutes, I'm enjoying this music more than I have the last 10 years on the violin.'" |
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“You can never depend on house sound systems to do justice to your instrument or your sound. But, I'm relaxed knowing that with the MB150 I will be able to consistently get the sound I want." - Esperanza Spalding.