In conversation with esperanza spalding
By Tomas Pea
Those following jazz ought to keep an ear on the bassist Esperanza Spalding, who is going about things her own way. Shes got a good tone and conservatory training, but so has everyone else these days. More important, she already sounds distinct. Essentially shes a singer, using her instrument and her voice to similar ends. Her musicality is all integrated: The Esperanza Spalding experience is light, melodic, joyful, always sort of minimalist and airborne.
Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
Congratulations on your new recording, Esperanza. Very impressive!
Thank you!
Just to clarify, Esperanza is your second recording as a leader. Your first recording, Junjo, is a collaboration with drummer Francisco Mela and pianist Aruan Ortiz.
Right.
Esperanza Spalding, photo by Johann Sauty
You were born in Portland, Oregon and raised by your mother. Lets talk about your mother and the influence she has had on you both personally and professionally. Was your mother musically inclined?
Yeah! My mother should run for president! Actually, she was a vocalist. She was invited to go on the road with a show but then she became pregnant with my brother. That ended her professional career. When I was seven or eight she enrolled in a professional music program but by that time she had been away from the music for so long that it was difficult for her to catch up to the rest of the class. I used to accompany and afterwards, I would try to play the lessons at home.
You started playing the violin at the age of four
Actually I was five
How old were you when you mother enrolled you in the music program for inner-city kids?
I think I was eight or nine. By the way, I also played the oboe and the clarinet.
Really?
It was nothing to brag about Funny story: I practiced on the oboe every single day but no matter how hard I tried I just couldnt get it. When I finally returned the instrument I learned that it was defective, it didnt work there was something wrong with the keys! Anyway, I never got a second whack at it!
Eventually you switched to the bass and hooked up with a group of serious musicians who kicked your butt into getting serious.
Yeah, there was one guy in particular. His name was Thara Memory. I was terrified of him! He would look at my compositions and yell, No, get serious! Later, he chilled out and became one of my mentors.
And then there were the cats in the blues band.
Yeah, Sweet Baby James and The Original Cats.
Are they still around?
I think Sweet Baby James is still around. As long as he can stand up hell be doing his thing.
Then it was off to Portland University and the Berklee College of music, where you aced the audition and received a scholarship. Tell me about your defining moment with (guitarist) Pat Metheny.
Hilarious. I don't know if he even remembers the conversation! For him it was so nonchalant and for me it was so huge! I was just talking to a friend about this. When you're looking for an answer the tiniest thing becomes the most significant thing. Anyway, the conversation took place at Berklee when Gary Burton and Pat Metheny were producing a record by the student ensemble. Everybody had left the studio and I was there, probably practicing and Mr. Metheny walked in and asked me what I was planning to do with my life. I told him that I was thinking of leaving school and pursuing a degree in political science. He told me that he meets a lot of musicians, some great, some not so great and that I had (what he called) the X Factor. Meaning, that if I chose to pursue a career in music and I applied myself, my potential was unlimited.
How did that make you feel?
Mind you, he didnt say I was great. He said if I worked hard I could make it, which is what its all about. Any creative pursuit is a lifelong process.
At Berklee you also met and/or shared the stage with Patti Austin, Joe Lovano, Michel Camilo and Dave Samuels. As a student and the youngest faculty member at Berklee, do you see yourself as a jazz artist/jazz educator?
You know it's funny how much is missing in music education. Anytime you take a Western history music class and Johan Sebastian Bachs name comes up they speak about the fact that a lot of his music was improvised. But since we really cant hear it people play it as is. When you think about that it makes you go, What? What I mean is, Western music is based on improvisation, but it's never really talked about.
Funny you should mention that, there's a book by Alex Ross called The Rest is Noise Listening to the Music of the 20th Century that talks about that very subject. People seem to forget that classical music did not begin as music for the bourgeois, it was intended for the masses! And often times the audiences were downright rowdy!
On another note, how do you characterize your music? If I walked into a record store where would I find your music?
When Norah Jones made her first recording it was placed in the jazz category. When it started selling it was placed in the Pop category. So the question then becomes, what genre is she? Certainly not jazz.
Touche! What is the one thing that you would like everyone to know about Esperanza (the recording)?
I want everyone to know that it is just the tip of the iceberg. My objective was to create a record that contains a lot of the creative forces that exist in jazz and improvised music. Also, to create music that someone with a developed ear or someone who just wants to enjoy the music can appreciate. Like Betty Carter once said, Jazz ain't nothing but soul and it's true. We put our hearts and soul into the music.
That definitely comes across.
Thank you man, I appreciate that!
I like your renditions of Punto de Areia and Body and Soul. How hard was it to translate the lyrics of Body and Soul from English to Spanish?
That's a good question. We aren't allowed to change the poetry, so we had to do a little translation. If we could have messed with the poetry a little it would have helped but for copyright reasons we couldnt.
How many of the tunes are original compositions?
I think it's nine tunes altogether. Also, there are two songs that are not on the record that will only be available through iTunes. Actually, those are two of my favorite songs.
But I wont be able to download the tunes until May 20th, when the recording is released.
Right.
in a past interview, you were adamant about the fact that you wanted to be judged on the quality of your work, not by your gender. Historically speaking, the music industry has not been very kind to women. Thus far, how has it been for you?
Well, for me its been fine. The tricky part is taking responsibility for your self. Its really easy to say, Everybody treats me like a woman! and its true, however many women make the mistake of over sexualizing themselves. The hard thing, in the beginning, is to learn how to present your self in a totally professional way so that you're not inviting any of that. There's a way to behave where you are not over sexualizing yourself as a woman, but it's hard to learn because in most situation it's to your benefit.
Given your appearance, you were bound to run into those kinds of situations.
Every woman thats pretty knows how to use it, the tricky thing is to know how not to use it! But really, really, really, tricky part is to make sure that your music is together like any other man. And then when you present yourself, you have to do it totally professionally and platonically, if there is such a word. Once you learn how to present yourself, respect yourself, and have faith in your music, it's not hard to do.
Thinking back, the only other woman I can recall who plays the bass and sings is Meshell
Ndegeocello! I love her!
Shes amazing. I love the name of her new recording The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams!
Hysterical!
Lets talk about your band.
On the recording or my working band?
Lets start with the band on the recording.
Otis Brown on the drums, Leonardo Genovese on the piano hes amazing! I know somebody huge is going to grab him soon, so I am just enjoying my time with him, Jamey Haddad on percussion, drummer Horacio El Negro Hernandez plays on half of the songs. Unfortunately, two of the songs that are killin are not on the record, Ambrose Akiamusire on trumpet, Donald Harrison on saxophone and Gretchen Parlato (and Otis) on background vocals.
Isnt there a guitarist on one of the tunes?
The current band is Otis, Leo and a guitarist named Ricardo Vogt, hes from Brazil and hes phenomenal.
You obviously have an affinity for Brazilian music.
Yeah, I love it.
Just to backtrack for a moment, where are you from? Whats your heritage?
I am from Portland, Oregon. My father is African-American and my mother is Welsh, Native American and Hispanic.
You just returned from Europe
Yes, I performed at a jazz festival in France.
How was it?
Its beautiful. Its always amazing to be around your peers and other musicians that you admire. It was really cool. We got to see Wayne Shorter before we played.
Wayne is amazing. The minute he puts a horn to his lips you know its him.
I dont say this too often but Wayne Shorter is one of my musical heroes. I love everything hes done and all the facets of his career. Hes a perfect example of what can happen when you spend your whole life following your own muse. Hes been doing it for what, forty-five years?
Something like that. You are scheduled to appear at The JVC Jazz Festival in New York on June 25th.
Ill be there!
Is there anything you would like to add before we close?
Yes, but it doesnt have anything to do with music.
Shoot!
Everybody should read and everybody should think more than they read.
Thats deep!
Like Sam Cooke said, If you dont read history and you dont know whats going on in the world what are you going to put in your music? Because your stuff probably isnt as hip as you think it is. You have to know whats going on!
Thank you for speaking with Jazz.com and good luck on the release of Esperanza. I should mention that your upcoming performance at the JVC Jazz Festival will take place at The New York Society for Ethical Culture.
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May 28, 2008 · 10 comments
I have heard her three times now, once with Joe Lovano, a concert which I walked out on. I don't treat music according to gender. I just don't hear anything special that sets her apart from other bassists her age. I'd like to hear her sing and play solo so I can confirm. So far, there is a lot of useless noise with her when she plays.
Win hinkle's comment is hilarious. walked out on a Lovano concert?...do you prefer Kenny G?
How about the false extreme Hilarity--- hey I like Joe too but not everything Joe does turns to gold. I heard him with Kenny Werner on piano and Yoron Israel on drums, and that band wasn't really all that together. I also heard the 52nd St. band a couple of times and, while the musicianship was great, thought it all kind of a futile exercise.
she is so so so pretty and cool
I was at a village vanguard gig with Lovano and Spalding and I was mesmerized. I had never heard her or of her but she had a specialness that just grabbed me - and I've been a fan ever since. I actually liked her first album a bit better than this one - it's a bit too lose for my tastes. A really good editor/producer could have turned it to pure gold.
wow, who would walk out on that!, let me see, a music instructor at berklee, at that age now thats heavy duty, then with joe lovano? man win hinkle, needs to have his ears cleaned! plus she looks like the lady in the omega man!
proud of u from a jazz lover in india 9890202707 ever come to india call and watch me put a gig together with the rest of jazz musicians at the jazz festivals in mumbai
I and my wife caught Esperanza at the Newport Jazz Festival Aug. 10, and she absolutely wowed us and everybody else. First she played with George Wein as one of the Newport All-Stars (age 23 meets age 82) then later heading her quartet. Sky's the limit for this young lady!
Greetings, Heard Esperanza in Portland, Oregon June 15, 2008. Like everyone who isn't hyper-musical I was astonished along with my wife who is a professional recording artist. Don't hate people, like Esperanza said, "just the tip of the iceberg". Sit back and enjoy the ride. Peace Be Unto All! vh
Last night I saw a shining star, the kind of talent that comes around only once every generation. Singing, playing, performing---Esperanza isn't missing a thing, and I look forward to seeing her do her thing for as long as she's willing to do it.