Esperanza Spalding Group at Healdsburg Jazz Festival

From Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie to Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck, jazz’s greatest figures have often served as musical ambassadors. Bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding has stepped confidently into the role of jazz’s most charismatic 21st century emissary, equally comfortable laying down grooves on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” at the Village Vanguard, at the White House, or Oslo’s Spektrum, where she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize concert last year at the invitation of President Obama. With a beguiling blend of Brazilian melodies, Afro-Caribbean grooves, post-bop harmonies and lilting vocals, 25-year-old Spalding combines the imaginative flights of a serious improviser with the stage presence and musical accessibility of a pop star. Her latest album, “Esperanza” on Heads Up, documents her rapidly maturing conception as a bandleader who’s honed a world-jazz repertoire featuring her lithe originals and standards in English, Spanish and Portuguese. ...

read more

From Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie to Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck, jazz’s greatest figures have often served as musical ambassadors. Bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding has stepped confidently into the role of jazz’s most charismatic 21st century emissary, equally comfortable laying down grooves on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” at the Village Vanguard, at the White House, or Oslo’s Spektrum, where she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize concert last year at the invitation of President Obama. With a beguiling blend of Brazilian melodies, Afro-Caribbean grooves, post-bop harmonies and lilting vocals, 25-year-old Spalding combines the imaginative flights of a serious improviser with the stage presence and musical accessibility of a pop star. Her latest album, “Esperanza” on Heads Up, documents her rapidly maturing conception as a bandleader who’s honed a world-jazz repertoire featuring her lithe originals and standards in English, Spanish and Portuguese.


Possessing a huge sound and singular sense of time, she’s already racked up an impressive array of credits, including with pianist Michel Camilo, bassist Stanley Clarke, guitarist Pat Metheny, vocalist Patti Austin, and saxophonist Joe Lovano, who has built his celebrated Us Five band around the powerfully propulsive pulse of her bass. Already a heavyweight talent, Spalding is growing by leaps and bounds with a deliciously funky sound that’s both bracingly personal and embracingly accessible. Her band for this performance includes guitarist Ricardo Vogt, pianist Leo Genovese and Justin Brown on drums.

www.healdsburgjazzfestival.org

show less