Esperanza Spalding: Just Bass And Voice

by Nick Morrison
When bassist, composer and vocalist Esperanza Spalding released Esperanza in 2008, she was widely praised for her blend of mainstream jazz with jazz fusion, Brazilian music and hip-hop. Spalding began performing in her hometown of Portland, Ore., while still in her teens, so many Northwest jazz fans got a chance to watch her develop her prodigious talent before she left Portland for the Berklee College of Music.

That being the case, it's always an event when Spalding returns to the Pacific Northwest, and KPLU was lucky enough to find her with enough free time to visit our performance studio for a session with jazz host Abe Beeson. Because of her rigorous touring schedule, Spalding decided to give her band the afternoon off and showed up at the studio by herself, with just her bass and her voice. As you'll hear, that was enough.

Photo > Chris Graythen/Getty Images Entertainment

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In an interview at KPLU, Esperanza Spalding talks about two new projects for 2010 and performs two jazz standards solo.