Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza Emily Spalding is an American jazz bassist, cellist, singer, and songwriter. Spalding was raised in Portland, Oregon and was a musical prodigy, playing violin in the Chamber Music Society of Oregon at age five. She was later both self-taught and -trained on a number of instruments, including guitar and bass. Her proficiency earned her scholarships to Portland State University and the Berklee College of Music...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJazz Singer
Date of Birth18 October 1984
CountryUnited States of America
Whoever you are, if you know what you're doing, you don't want other people to overtake the merit of your art.
What I'm identifying with is the vision or the idea - whatever was the little nugget that started it.
I love people, and I love to be with people and to make music with people, but my natural state is to revert back to being by myself in my house, which is cool because thats where I practice and write and listen and study.
It's a pity if someone who has a really profoundly potent art to share chooses not to or doesn't fit into this very thin slice of what's desirable and marketable, chances are the public will never get a chance to hear what they're doing.
Jazz has always been a melting pot of influences and I plan to incorporate them all.
When I read, you know, a rough neighborhood of Portland, I'm like - what? - they didn't have kombucha bars there?
I fear that I won't get better and that I won't have time to practice. To be called a "jazz musician" - it's a big responsibility.
People are more used to seeing men who are masters at an instrument than women.
People are more used to seeing men who are masters at an instrument than women. When people say, 'Oh, she plays like a dude,' it's usually dudes who are the ones saying it. They're saying, 'Oh, she's as good as us.' Of course, that's a stupid statement. It's totally stereotypical to say, 'We have an advantage on this, and if anyone else can do it well, it's only because they're like us.' I think more men are starting to learn that this attitude is totally hollow and based in imagination. As more women are involved in music, this kind of thing gets said less and less.
You don't have to be fearless to do anything, you can be scared out of your mind.
I’m not gonna sit around and waste my precious divine energy trying to explain and be ashamed of things you think are wrong with me.