Esperanza Spalding Quotes

Esperanza Emily Spalding is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her 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.From Portland, Oregon, Spalding began playing music professionally in her childhood, performing as a violinist in the Chamber Music Society of Oregon at age five. She was later both self-taught and trained on other instruments, including guitar and bass. Her proficiency earned her academic scholarships to Portland State University and the Berklee College of Music, both of which she attended, studying music.

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 2008 self-titled album. Her 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. She 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.

After spending the following several years performing as a supporting band player, Spalding released her fifth studio album, a funk rock-inspired concept album titled Emily's D+Evolution, co-produced by Tony Visconti, on Concord Records. The following year, she released the album Exposure, which was limited to 7,777 copies. Her subsequent sixth studio record, 12 Little Spells, was released in 2019, and peaked at number one on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums. The album also saw Spalding nominated for two Grammy Awards, winning in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category.

In addition to writing and performing music, Spalding has also worked as an instructor, first at the Berklee College of Music, beginning at age 20. In 2017, Spalding was appointed professor of the Practice of Music at Harvard University, a position she resigned from in 2022. Wikipedia

✵ 18. October 1984

Esperanza Spalding: 4 quotes 0 likes

Famous Esperanza Spalding Quotes

“Alchemy and magic are about how mundane, benign, and abundant materials can have an effect that is greater than the sum of their parts. To me, creativity is alchemy.”

Esperanza Spalding

On giving her music a magical quality in “Esperanza Spalding Wants to Connect You to Your Body” https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/09/esperanza-spalding-12-little-spells-interview in Vanity Fair (2018 Sep 25)

“I want to have a beneficial effect on your physiology, but it’s not my business what happens after that…It’s my gift to you.”

Esperanza Spalding

On the healing effects that she hopes her music provides in “Esperanza Spalding Wants to Connect You to Your Body” https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/09/esperanza-spalding-12-little-spells-interview in Vanity Fair (2018 Sep 25)

“…There's no secret, no shortcut. Once you accept that being a writer or a creator is just really hard and takes a lot of hours of slogging through crappy first drafts, you just keep producing, and then you turn around and it's done. That's the magic.”

Esperanza Spalding

On becoming a writer in “Esperanza Spalding Talks Recording an Album in 77 Hours, Sexism in Music & Nicki Minaj” https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7973640/esperanza-spalding-77-hours-livestream-album-interview in Billboard (2017 Sep 22)

“…There’s two sides of the coin: One where people don't expect you to do anything and won't let you do anything because they think you don't know how, and then the other side is when you're fucking up but they won't tell you because you're a girl. Then you don’t learn.”

Esperanza Spalding

On how recording in the studio can be a double-edged sword in “Esperanza Spalding: Insubordinate by Nature” https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/9830-esperanza-spalding-insubordinate-by-nature/ in Pitchfork (2016 Mar 8)