53 Facts About Esperanza Spalding

Esperanza Emily Spalding is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer.

Esperanza Spalding's accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Award, a Soul Train Music Award, and two honorary doctorates: in 2018 from her alma mater Berklee College of Music and in 2022 from CalArts.

Esperanza Spalding was later both self-taught and trained on other instruments, including guitar and bass.

Esperanza Spalding's proficiency earned her academic scholarships to Portland State University and the Berklee College of Music, both of which she attended, studying music.

Esperanza Spalding released her first album, Junjo, in 2006 on the Spanish label Ayva Musica, after which she signed with the independent American label Heads Up, who released her 2007 self-titled album.

Esperanza Spalding's third studio album, Chamber Music Society, was a commercial success, charting at number 34 on the Billboard 200, and resulting in Spalding winning her first Grammy Award for Best New Artist; Spalding was the first jazz artist to win in this category.

Esperanza Spalding saw further acclaim for her fourth release, Radio Music Society, which earned the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album, as well as the track "City of Roses" winning for Best Arrangement, Instrument and Vocals.

The album saw Esperanza Spalding nominated for two Grammy Awards, winning in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category.

In 2017, Esperanza Spalding was appointed professor of the Practice of Music at Harvard University, a position she resigned from in 2022.

Esperanza Emily Spalding was born October 18,1984, in Portland, Oregon, to an African American father and a mother of Welsh, Native American, and Hispanic descent.

Esperanza Spalding was raised in the King neighborhood of northeast Portland, a neighborhood at that time known for gang violence.

Esperanza Spalding's mother raised Spalding and her brother as a single parent.

Esperanza Spalding said that she sometimes accompanied her mother to classes, sat listening under the piano, then at home repeated what the teacher had played.

Esperanza Spalding remained in the King neighborhood of Portland until age ten, when she relocated with her family to the suburbs of Portland.

Esperanza Spalding's mother took note of her daughter's musical proclivity when Esperanza Spalding was able to reproduce Beethoven by ear on the family's piano at a young age.

Esperanza Spalding herself credited watching classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform on an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as an integral part of her childhood, and it inspired her to pursue music.

Esperanza Spalding remained with the group until she was 15 years old, and left as concertmaster.

Esperanza Spalding played oboe and clarinet in her youth before discovering the double bass while attending The Northwest Academy, a performing arts high school to which she had won a scholarship.

Esperanza Spalding began performing live in clubs in Portland as a teenager, securing her first gig in a blues club at the age of 15, when she could play only one line on bass.

Esperanza Spalding decided to apply to Berklee College of Music on the encouragement of her bass teacher, and did well enough in her audition to receive a full scholarship.

In spite of the scholarship, Esperanza Spalding found meeting living expenses a challenge, so her friends arranged a benefit concert that paid her airfare.

Esperanza Spalding's savings did not last long and she considered leaving music to study political science, a move jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny discouraged.

Esperanza Spalding told her that she had "the 'X Factor'" and could make it if she applied herself.

Almost immediately after graduation from college later the same year, Esperanza Spalding was hired by Berklee College of Music to teach bass performance and private lessons, becoming one of the youngest instructors in the institution's history, at the age of 20.

In 2008, Esperanza Spalding recalled the tour as educational, helping her learn to accompany a vocalist and how to sustain energy and interest playing the same material nightly.

Esperanza Spalding continued to perform with Austin periodically for three years.

In December 2009, at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies, Esperanza Spalding performed at Oslo City Hall in honor of the 2009 Laureate US President Barack Obama, and again at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert the following day.

Esperanza Spalding was personally selected by Obama, as per the tradition of having one laureate-invited-artist perform.

Esperanza Spalding was the featured final act for the opening night of the 2009 Park City Jazz Festival in Park City, Utah.

Esperanza Spalding closed the show with a number along with bass artists Brian Bromberg and Sean O'Bryan Smith, who performed earlier that day.

Esperanza Spalding performed the 1987 hit single "If I Was Your Girlfriend".

In 2011, Esperanza Spalding collaborated with Tineke Postma on the track "Leave Me a Place Underground" from the album The Dawn of Light.

Esperanza Spalding collaborated with Terri Lyne Carrington on the album The Mosaic Project, where she features on the track "Crayola".

Esperanza Spalding sang a duet with Nicholas Payton on the track "Freesia" from the 2011 album Bitches of Renaissance.

In November 2011, Esperanza Spalding won "Jazz Artist of the Year" at the Boston Music Awards.

In February 2012, Esperanza Spalding performed at the 84th Academy Awards, singing the Louis Armstrong standard "What a Wonderful World", alongside the Southern California Children's Chorus to accompany the video montage that celebrated the film industry greats who died in 2011 and early 2012.

Esperanza Spalding hoped this album would showcase jazz musicians in an accessible manner suitable for mainstream radio.

In November 2013, Esperanza Spalding released a single "We Are America" to protest the Guantanamo prison camps, with cameo performances by Stevie Wonder and Harry Belafonte.

In March 2016, Esperanza Spalding released her fifth studio album, Emily's D+Evolution, a concept album featuring a funk rock sound.

In July 2017, Esperanza Spalding was appointed a professor of the Practice of Music at Harvard University.

The packaging of the physical album included a piece of the original notepaper Esperanza Spalding used to write the lyrics and music, allowing those who witnessed the process to own a piece of the creation itself, directly from the source.

About the experiment, Esperanza Spalding stated that the live aspect of it forced her to be more creative, because there was no option to return to the same thing and try again.

Esperanza Spalding described the album's experimental structure as a result of her gradual distancing from the title of an "artist", gravitating towards a concept-driven identity.

In 2020 and 2021, Esperanza Spalding worked with Wayne Shorter on a new operatic work titled Iphigenia, with Esperanza Spalding writing the libretto.

Esperanza Spalding has an interest in the music of other cultures, including that of Brazil, where she once spent a month learning Portuguese.

Esperanza Spalding has said that the melody and language of songs in Portuguese are inextricably connected.

Esperanza Spalding has described the saxophone player Wayne Shorter, and singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento, as heroes.

Esperanza Spalding has mentioned her preference for the music of Brazil.

Esperanza Spalding has said she models her career on those of Madonna and Ornette Coleman, and cited Joni Mitchell as a major musical inspiration.

Esperanza Spalding says that her mom was and will always be her role model.

Esperanza Spalding is a practitioner of the Soka Gakkai International tradition of Nichiren Buddhism.

On September 4,2018, Esperanza Spalding performed a benefit for Bienestar, a local housing and outreach non-profit based in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Esperanza Spalding is an advocate for parks and open spaces, and is a supporter of The Trust for Public Land.