Anat Cohen and Esperanza Spalding Open Discover Jazz Fest

Monday June 08, 2009

The balcony was closed at the Flynn Center but the floor was nearly filled to capacity for opening night of the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. It was a double bill with the Anat Cohen Quartet and Esperanza Spalding, starting with Anat, who plays sax and (a rarity in jazz these days) clarinet. I liked the contrast, with the switch from the light and airy clarinet to the huskier sax building some contour into her set. The highlight was her final tune, “Washington Square Park,” where she tried to capture the international flavor of that spot she lives near in New York City. Pianist Jason Lindner (who played the jazz fest with his trio last year) held the piano wire while hitting the keys, creating a surprising Chinese vibe. The tune migrated into other ethnic sounds reflecting Cohen’s homeland of Israel and her interest in Brazilian music. A strong set overall.

Spalding, who enthralled a standing-room-only crowd at FlynnSpace two years ago, lost no power moving to the much larger Flynn Center with her quartet (photo from tonight’s show by Free Press staffer Glenn Russell). Her version of “Body and Soul” in 2007 was fantastic but this one was even more charged, with her nimble bass playing and stunning vocal versatility taking over. Her voice is several sounds squeezed into one tiny body – she sings, she scats, and she creates a spunky, playful feel that inanimate instruments can never quite produce, filling her show with a unique style and personality.

Click here to read the full article at Burlington Free Press and be sure to check out an interview with Esperanza below!

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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