Esperanza Spalding: jazz singer/bassist-- sounds kinda like Flora Purim or Minnie Ripperton

So I've been quietly evangelizing some ILX types toward this young lady and I decided I should finally just start a damn thread about her. She's got a bunch of brazilian rhythms in her music and sings in three languages in addition to excellent scatting and her voice is as pretty as the day. Her albums are both a bit inconsistent and her songwriting hits the occasional snag, but this chick is ridiculously talented. I hope I'm not underselling her. (I majorly crush on her, btw. XD)

"I Adore You"

"I Know You Know"

And on Letterman's show...

http://pageman.multiply.com/video/item/75/David_Letterman-Esperanza_Spalding-June-4th-2008

ws

ha I already posted her in ws

I like her. The album is a bit busy -- very much has the feel of a freshman "Look at all my talents!" effort, but good. I predict a more AAA radio-friendly follow-up.

yeah she might as well get that norah jones money, if that's still a thing.

What's wrong with a young woman showing a little ambition? She's no freshman, either -- this is her second record as a frontwoman, she is already a professor at Berklee, and she was in an indie-pop-jazz band in Portland as a teenager: http://www.hushrecords.com/?page_id=48

Never said anything wrong with any of the above, other than just I find the record a little busy.

To be fair, Matt, she's been promoting this as a "debut" album even though it isn't in any sense. There does seem to be a bit of a clear break from her first album, being that the new one is a lot more vocal-oriented, but that's rather meaningless as far as chronology goes.

Okay, I'll be fair from now on. *thinks*: what did i do wrong???

dont think just do btw hav u heard animal collective merriweather post pavilion

no i hav not, not really intrstd why

well do u like the beatles then

they r okay but i dont really listn to thm a lot, y r we havng ths convrstn in ths contxt

do u ever try to remember some amazing song thats in the back of yr mind only to realize you dreamed it

have u ever heard a angel sing

ws

do u ever wonder what it would song like if god played the guitar and sang songs

> Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

go back there or start a new thread called 'quasi-philosophical and/or stoned musings from me' or something

u catch on fast dimension five i admire that tell me tho have u ever heard the true story behind 9/11

have u every wondered what it would sound like if the whole world had an orgasm at the same time

>> Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

god dammit please dont keep being a dick

omg totes unreasonable request

To be fair, Matt, she's been promoting this as a "debut" album even though it isn't in any sense. There does seem to be a bit of a clear break from her first album, being that the new one is a lot more vocal-oriented, but that's rather meaningless as far as chronology goes.

― CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (The Reverend), Friday, 26 December 2008 10:25 (9 hours ago)

Yeah, but her first album was on a fairly small jazz/latin imprint from the looks of it and her current "debut" is on Heads Up

Alright, didn't realize that.

(Matt, you may want to check out the Animal Collective thread. It only contains the greatest hoax ILX has ever has ever perpetrated against the internets.)

by which above poster means 'a rickroll'

yeah, but it's highly elaborate rickroll

and perpetrated against Animal Collective fans

well you kids are too meta-nu-skool for me, I think I have seen the date on my ILM tombstone today. ("and not a moment too soon," they replied)

didn't think there was much i'd be less interested in than "animal collective" or "animal collective fans" but "a highly elaborate rickroll against animal collective fans" qualifies, kudos

esperanza spalding otoh sounds awesome

Rev pls start a new Spalding thread so I can follow along and enjoy the music...

She's solid; much prefer the first album but v v v real live.
And super gorgeous.

Hmm. Well I listened to the entirety of the album and it was nice enough, but maybe too much of a good thing. Or maybe just not enough of MY kind of thing. She sure is nice for putting a song into a mix, though. And I'd certainly go see her live if I had a chance.

I wish I had gone to that show she did with Joe Lovano and Francisco Mela last month. I guess I'll have to wait until the record comes out. I did go and see this show. When did you see her, forks?

she's got a lovely voice and yeah, very talented, but ugh that coffee shop jazz template needs to go

The other day I heard the WBGO run down the Year In Jazz and she was the number one event.

xp: You can't blame the jazzists for being co-opted, even if some of them have been complicit. As (I think it was) Ice-T once said, "Don't hate the player, hate the coffeeshop." XP

The combination of her recent profile in The New Yorker and finding Esperanza in a bargain bin at B0rd3r's led me to finally checking her out, I really like it. Not completely sold on the vocals just yet (I have a very difficult time with jazz vocalists that aren't the classics) but its pretty entertaining. Very interested to hear the imminent new album.

lol @ joe & max pimping the mpp rickroll upthread

"I Adore You" is still one of my favorite tracks of the past few years

This could be cool:

http://www.amazon.com/Chamber-Music-Society-Esperanza-Spalding/dp/B003OFHMKO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1280843535&sr=1-1

I didn't take to the last one that much, but I definitely consider her someone for me to keep an eye on.

The new stuff is probably still too "la la la" mellow for me. I don't find it objectionable but I doubt it's something I'd ever be in the mood to listen to (at least not at this point in my life).

EOMG I LUV BIEBER! ESERANZA GO KILL URSELF!

ok i wondered why a jazz album was in the itunes top 10

i haven't heard her solo recs, but she sounds good backing joe lovano on his new one

start here if you haven't already:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f8hACrttII

Hope people just now checking her out don't judge her solely on Chamber Music Society. IMO, Esperanza is much livelier and more accessible.

(Haven't heard the first album.)

"baby's got bass"? nobody thought that was inappropriate?

I'm sorry, did I click on the rolling "is this racist?" thread?

nothing racist about it. it's meant to be a play on baby got back. and she's a bass player. but it casually reads as baby got ass. which seems a bad way to introduce Esperanza.

Apparently she hangs with prince? He mentioned her on his recent Arsenio appearance.

yup. she plays on some of his stuff as i understand it.

her new songs are fucking insane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDrEHphZbc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LtyqeE7ZHg

oh i guess i was not able to post one of those videos. it's here: http://www.npr.org/2016/01/08/462325734/esperanza-spalding-is-letting-emily-be-emily

joni mitchell vibes on that last one

so this album is WONDERFUL and also got bnm

OBSESSED WITH THIS

ohhh?

Earth to Heaven has some pure Joni vibes. Beautiful

Holy shit, "Rest in Pleasure" - I'm getting major King Crimson flashbacks. The guitar is a bit shoegazer indie too; I dunno, like Chapterhouse or something.

Omg this album. I was going to make Hejira and KC/Yes comparisons as well.

this album sounds like fusion Janelle Monae? predictably, I love it

Ebony and Ivy is insane

Nothing constructive to add here except more breathless praise. First album in recent memory I've listened to more than once in a row (and may go for a third today). The run from "Judas" to "Rest In Pleasure" is fucking amazing.

Also, Joni + Steely Dan + King Crimson + Yes + "sorta pretentious modern jazz / r&b" sounds like an album someone tells me about in a dream and I wake up cursing the universe that no such record exists

Maybe dangerous terrain here but how does this sound on vinyl? I'm wary of modern pressings sourced from the same master as the CD but I kinda want this

Haven't listened to this (or any of her albums) yet but this Pitchfork interview is fucking great and makes me want to check her out.

that interview is so bad ass

annette peacock, guys

fuck, she sounds like harriet wheeler on "noble nobles"!

Noble Nobles reminds me of Airbag

some pure Joni vibes. Beautiful

― calstars, Saturday, March 5, 2016 5:43 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yea definitely

the p4k interview w/ her is great btw

loving this record!

hehe and that no bs interview too

this album is exceptional

although, it is also exceptionally long and I can only take it in small doses

This is cool, happy to hear it's exactly as described (Joni, Yes/Crimson). Has Pitchfork ever covered her before, or is this a new thing?

want to like this so bad. it's like screaming headless torsos meets joni. some great playing and arrangements, yet it's still falling flat on me. like the production is too slick. too much funk/fusion clinic kind of playing. never really grooves. not a lot to hold onto. like the kamasi washington album, im glad this music is being made but it's just like... going through the motions or a genre exercise or something.

although, it is also exceptionally long and I can only take it in small doses

― akm, Thursday, March 10, 2016 2:13 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

dude it's like 46 minutes long

xpost I don't really like the funk/fusion clinic playing/production too much, either, and the novelty of the arrangements and busyness of the vocals does get a little exhausting, imo, so I can easily see why 46 minutes could feel twice as long.

is it really only 46 minutes long? it feels longer.

tbh I could have done without the Willie Wonka song but I think the rest is perfect

whoa this is great

this thread title

xp: absolutely, this is very good except the proggy elements in the beginning which i don't like too much. she really sounds like joni's reincarnation of around "the hissing of summer lawns".

want to like this/her, and i prob need to listen to it more to be fairer, but i feel like she just has no personality to latch on to.

Saw her last night and she was just so talented and charismatic and doing her own thang it was almost uncanny. She was in character (as such), prancing around in a white jumpsuit and her goofy glasses, singing impossibly well into a headset mic and rocking what looked like a 5-string fretless. Music, per the album, was Living Colour (esp. her guitarist, who reminded me a lot, sonically, of Vernon Reid) meets Joni Mitchell. There was a stage set, a crazy "program" handed out at the start, backup singers/dancers, and she just killed it with no concern for the head-scratching it no doubt inspired.

caught her June 23 2010 with McCoy Tyner -- and Reverend and this thread came to mind immediately

really was a fantastic show (and the DJ played "Ain't No Half Steppin'" as she left the stage iirc)

Next project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAOezi2Ea0k

"This project is going to be a little different from other ones I've done. You buy a blank CD. Then over 3 days, I'll fill it with beautiful, spontaneously created music. And you can watch the whole thing unfold over Facebook Live. September 12 starting at 9 AM.

Order your blank CD now: http://found.ee/EspWeb-j

Only 7,777 copies will be available, so first come first served."

-Esperanza

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/07/jazz-star-esperanza-spalding-flutist-claire-chase-join-harvard-faculty/

I have been dying to tell ppl about this for the past week.

The Facebook Live feed has started...

http://www.facebook.com/EsperanzaSpalding/videos/10159220183305527/

New album sounding very cool!

What happened to 'first come, first served'? Does the Spotify self-destruct after 7,777 streams lol? (Not that I'm complaining either way.)

oh wait, my bad, this isn't Exposure, it's a whole new Thang:

http://www.esperanzaspalding.com/12-little-spells/

http://www.esperanzaspalding.com/home-12littlespells/

Still working through this, but "Touch In Mine" captures well what she seems to have been aiming for.

12 Little Spells is kind of a prog-pop masterpiece, no?

I like ES, she’s got the groove

I liked it a lot when I listened to it and posted to the jazz thread. Haven't come back to it but I should.

new song is incredible!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5l0Wu821Ww

collab album with milton nascimento(!!) incoming: https://pitchfork.com/news/esperanza-spalding-and-milton-nascimento-announce-album-share-new-song-outubro-listen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESkS-6z7DZY