REVIEW Esperanza Spalding "Her original compositions sound like standards already"

Thursday October 14, 2010

from www.bbc.co.uk

Her original compositions sound like standards already
by Martin Longley

For a relative stripling, Esperanza Spalding is already well-schooled in the mysteries of jazz. It’s rare for an upright bass player to be an out-front singer, and such an oddity is even less likely to be female. Nevertheless, Spalding effortlessly entertains from a physically disadvantaged position, projecting to the furthest corners of any concert hall.

For her third album, New Jersey resident Spalding has created a more intimate pleasure. Its title hints at the subtleties within: Chamber Music Society finds Spalding’s accustomed quartet augmented by a string trio. Her co-producer also happens to be Gil Goldstein, one of the prime arrangers in jazz.

Spalding’s original compositions sound like standards already, and her specialised interests are becoming more apparent with each disc. Brazilian music is central, as is a predilection for lyrics that look to nature, symbolising humanity through references to the seasons, as well as flora and fauna. The opening Little Fly sets a William Blake poem, and the following Apple Blossom and Winter Sun continue this thematic sequence, combining fatalism, melancholia and hope.

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

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

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