Jazz Artist of the Year " Esperanza Spalding Breaking Boundaries By Shaun Brady " Photo by Andrea Canter Esperanza Spalding has become one of the biggest breakout stars of 2011— not just in jazz, but in all genres of music. The bassist/singer/composer has been voted the DownBeat Readers Poll Jazz Artist of the Year. A few months ago, she won a category in the DownBeat Critics Poll: Rising Star—Electric Bass. The most shocking moment at this year’s Grammy ceremony undoubtedly was Spalding’s win in the all-genre Best New Artist category. For an understandably cynical jazz community, it was shocking that she was even nominated in a category without “jazz” in its name. For TV viewers, it was shocking that this relative unknown could take an award over pop superstars like Canadian r&b singer Drake, English folk-rockers Mumford & Sons and of course, teen idol Justin Bieber, whose heartbroken fans spent the rest of that Feb. 13 evening calling for her head. But most of all, on an awards show dominated by the shallow, massive-selling glitz of mainstream pop music, it was shocking simply because, as Joe Lovano says, “she deserves it.” Lovano is one member of the “incredible community and family of musicians” that Spalding thanked by name during her acceptance speech that night. Many other people have recognized her talents, too. In just a few years, she’s gone from studying at Berklee College of Music to sharing stages with McCoy Tyner and Stevie Wonder and being handpicked by President Obama to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. When Spalding was profiled for a September 2010 cover story in DownBeat, journalist Dan Ouellette asked her about the future. She replied, “I want to hold on to that idea of being small and unnoticed, yet excited and curious. I don’t want to change that.” As her next album, Radio Music Society, becomes one of the most anticipated releases of 2012, and she continues to attract media attention from far outside the jazz world, it will be impossible for Spalding to go unnoticed. Producer Gil Goldstein, who worked with Spalding on both her 2010 album, Chamber Music Society (Heads Up), and its impending sequel, finds at least part of the key to her spectacular ascent in her remarkable poise, as exemplified by her grace in victory at the Grammys. “I don’t remember anybody who looked that relaxed at any awards ceremony over the last 25 years,” Goldstein laughs. “She was so not blown away by the moment. She didn’t stutter, she didn’t cry. She just was totally in the moment, which is rare. That’s such a great skill to have. And then, she came offstage and just went back to work. She’s totally unaffected personally by the hype of it all. It was just a moment in the sun and nice that the whole community got recognized through her.” Every so often, another artist comes along who seems to offer a bridge for jazz and popular music to finally reunite. “Crossover” may be a dirty word to some, but in Spalding both camps might have to concede their approval, however grudging. She’s a bassist with chops enough to stand her ground alongside Lovano and a pair of serious drummers; and she has a voice that can flit between jazz and soul idioms with the ease of the “Little Fly” whose story opens Chamber Music Society. The demand for her talents has been intense. Just this year, Spalding contributed to Francisco Mela’s Tree Of Life (Half Note) and Tineke Postma’s The Dawn Of Light (Challenge). On the latter, she illuminates “Leave Me A Place Underground,” which is the saxophonist’s original setting of a Pablo Neruda poem. Spalding also appeared on a compilation of highlights from the Kennedy Center’s 2010 Women in Jazz tribute to Mary Lou Williams; contributed a whimsical rendition of “Chim Chim Cher-ee” to the Disney jazz tribute album Everybody Wants To Be A Cat; and provided considerable inspiration for Terri Lyne Carrington’s all-female recording The Mosaic Project (Concord). “She kind of completed a circle for me,” Carrington says of meeting Spalding. “I hadn’t played with any female bass 40 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2011
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