Biography
Esperanza Emily Spalding, born on October 18, 1984, in Portland, Oregon, grew up in a single-parent household and discovered music early, starting as a violinist before switching to upright bass as a teenager, performing in local clubs across pop, rock, hip-hop, and jazz styles. She earned a scholarship from the Boston Jazz Society in 2005 and transferred to Berklee College of Music, graduating in three years at age 20, immediately becoming one of the youngest instructors there, teaching bass performance. Her career launched with the 2006 album Junjo on Ayva Musica, followed by her self-titled Esperanza (2008) on Heads Up, which fused jazz with soul, hip-hop, Cuban, and Brazilian influences, topping Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart.
Spalding's breakthrough came with Chamber Music Society (2010), featuring her originals and standards with a string trio and guests like Milton Nascimento, peaking at number 34 on the Billboard 200 and earning her the 2011 Grammy for Best New Artist—the first for a jazz musician, beating pop acts like Justin Bieber. Subsequent albums like Radio Music Society (2012), with collaborators including Joe Lovano and Jack DeJohnette, won Best Jazz Vocal Album; the funk-rock Emily's D+Evolution (2016) co-produced by Tony Visconti; limited-edition Exposure (2017); 12 Little Spells (2019), another Best Jazz Vocal winner; and Songwrights Apothecary Lab (2021), also Grammy-winning. Her style blends vocal jazz, jazz fusion, world music (Brazilian, Cuban), pop, and funk, often multilingual in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Spalding's legacy includes five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Award, a Soul Train Music Award, honorary doctorates from Berklee and CalArts, and a professorship at Harvard in 2017; she performed at the White House and Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, and continues innovating through teaching and projects emphasizing practice journals for students.
Fun Facts
- Spalding was the first jazz musician to win the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2011, defeating pop stars like Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence + the Machine, and Mumford & Sons.
- At age 20, she became one of Berklee College of Music's youngest instructors ever, teaching bass performance right after graduating in 2005.
- She uses a 'practice journal' method to help students at Berklee identify strengths and focus practice needs.
- Spalding performed at the White House and the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Stockholm shortly after her 2008 album.
Musical Connections
Mentors/Influences
- Joe Lovano - Longtime mentor and saxophonist who encouraged her early and collaborated frequently (Radio Music Society (2012)) [2000s-2010s]
- Wayne Shorter - Jazz hero and stylistic influence, founding father of jazz fusion (Covered his tunes on Radio Music Society (2012); later collaborations) [2010s onward]
Key Collaborators
- Terry Lyne Carrington - Regular rhythm section drummer (Radio Music Society (2012)) [2010s]
- Leo Genovese - Regular rhythm section pianist (Radio Music Society (2012)) [2010s]
- Jack DeJohnette - Guest master drummer (Radio Music Society (2012))
- Milton Nascimento - Guest vocalist on Brazilian-influenced tracks (Chamber Music Society (2010))
- Tony Visconti - Co-producer on funk-rock concept album (Emily's D+Evolution (2016))
- Pat Metheny - Touring and performance collaborator (Live performances and recordings) [2000s]
Connection Network
External Links
References
Heard on WWOZ
Esperanza Spalding has been played 16 times on WWOZ 90.7 FM, New Orleans' jazz and heritage station.