PREVIEW: Esperanza Spalding at Montreal Jazz Festival

Sunday June 26, 2011

From The Montreal Gazette

Esperanza Spalding: It’s all part of her master plan
Devotion to improving her musical skills and eschewing traditional labels is yielding impressive results
By: Juan Rodriguez

It’s safe to say the jazz world has never seen anyone quite like Esperanza Spalding. Indeed, the small, slim 26-year-old with the huge Afro and hip, elegant wardrobe is too big to be contained in the just-jazz bag. She’s an intra-musical phenomenon: Her breezy, confident vocals brim over with a passion for bossa nova, jazz-fusion, hip-hop and nu-soul.

Her deft standup-bass playing prompted pre-eminent saxophonist Joe Lovano to hire her to anchor his poll-winning Us5 group, giving her indisputable credibility in the jazz demimonde. Plus, she’s a terrific entertainer.

Barack Obama chose her to perform at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies. Earlier this year, she surprised a lot of people – including Justin Bieber – by winning the Grammy Award for best new artist, making her the first jazz musician to win the award.

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Radio Song (clip)	1:01	Esperanza Spalding
Black Gold	5:17	Esperanza Spalding

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Watch what's on

*Radio Music Society Trailer
Esperanza Spalding at the Oscars
Black Gold
Esperanza Spalding at the Nobel Prize Ceremony

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