It
has not taken Esperanza Spalding long to emerge as one of the brightest
lights in the musical world. Listeners familiar with her stunning 2008
Heads Up International debut,
Esperanza, and her best-selling 2010 release Chamber Music Society,
were well aware that the young bassist, vocalist and composer from
Portland, Oregon was the real deal, with a unique and style-spanning
presence, deeply rooted in
jazz yet destined to make her mark far beyond the jazz realm. That
judgment was confirmed on February 13, 2011, when Spalding became the
first jazz musician to receive the GRAMMY®
Award for Best New Artist. On March 20th, 2012, Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group, gives us Spalding's latest release,
Radio Music Society, her most diverse, ambitious and
masterful recital yet. Each of the 12 songs are accompanied by
conceptual music videos, which further express Esperanza’s inspiration
and story behind each track. Shot in various locations including
New York City; Barcelona, Spain; and Portland, Oregon; all videos will
be available to purchasers of
Radio Music Society as a digital download or a DVD on the deluxe version.
Radio Music Society is a companion, rather than a sequel, to Spalding’s previous disc, which reached No. 1 on the
Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart. “Originally I thought it
would be fun to release a double album,” she explains, “One disc with an
intimate, subtle exploration of chamber works and a second one in which
jazz musicians explore song forms and melodies
that are formatted more along the lines of what we would categorize as
“pop songs.” Those are the two things that really interest me, and it
intrigues me to think about different presentation approaches while
writing each kind of song. On the pop song side,
I think about listeners who aren’t into jazz, but I also think about
the people within my musical community who can interpret each idea
best.”
“Radio
Song,” the new disc’s opening track, both sets the tone and confirms
the aptness of Spalding’s “radio music” metaphor. “Everyone has the
experience of turning on a car radio,”
she explains,” mindlessly flipping through the dial and suddenly a
fragment grabs you and you’re totally digging it. I wanted to capture
that moment when the music just sinks in. It’s about the power of song,
and how at the least it can save the day.”
Fleshing
out the concept with original music was second nature to Spalding. “I
have this book of music that I’ve written, and so much of it fit either
the
Chamber Music or Radio Music concept. Songs
develop for me in fragments, so for these projects, I took my notes and
organized them into coherent works of music.”
In
the process, Spalding added her original, affirmative perspective to
classic radio music themes. Songs about love run a full gamut. “Hold On
Me” is a narrative of unrequited love,
inspired by people who cling to dreams of relationships that can never
be realized. “Let Her,” one of Spalding’s older compositions, was
inspired by “different people I’ve known who are in miserable
situations, then complain when they end.” “Cinnamon Tree,”
written to cheer up a friend, celebrates platonic love, and Spalding’s
belief that “the love between friends is just as important as romantic
love.”
“Crowned
and Kissed,” with references to King Arthur and Midas, is about “the
unsung royalty in your life, men and women who quietly, every day do the
most honorable things, and who deserve
to be honored even if they don’t end up with castles and thrones.” The
edgy “Smile Like That” marks the moment a person realizes that his or
her partner has developed other interests. “I’m saying, `Okay, I get
it, let’s not beat around the bush,’” Spalding
explains.
Her
takes on the state of our country and our culture are equally fresh and
insightful. “Vague Suspicions” confronts society’s short attention
span and our habit of absorbing horrific
events and celebrity gossip as part of the same media overload. The
brief “Land Of The Free” speaks to the sinister system of false
imprisonment by outlining the case of one innocent victim who spent 30
years in jail for a crime he did not commit.
“Black
Gold” is specifically addressed to young boys of color. “So much of
our strength is drawn from resistance and endurance,” she explains, “but
black pride didn’t just start with
the slave trade. I wanted to address our nobility, going back to our
incredible ancestors in pre-colonial Africa. I remember meetings when I
was in elementary school about being strong as young black women, and I
don’t think the boys had those meetings.
This song is meant to speak to those young men, and I imagined it might
one day be something that a parent could sing to his or her son.”
Radio Music Society
also features “City of Roses,” a celebration of her native Portland,
Oregon that Spalding was
commissioned to write by Banana Republic, and two cover tunes. Taking
the advice of one of her mentors, tenor saxophone giant Joe Lovano:
“When you do a classic, you have to find your own reason for doing it.”
Spalding charges Stevie Wonder’s “I Can’t Help
It” with the energy of apprehensive new love and adds original lyrics
to Wayne Shorter’s “Endangered Species.”
The
music is realized by many of the brilliant musicians who are part of
Spalding’s ever-expanding universe. In addition to longtime partners
Lovano, keyboard player Leo Genovese and
drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, the ranks contain jazz legends Jack
DeJohnette and Billy Hart; guitar heroes Jef Lee Johnson and Lionel
Loueke; an array of master vocalists including Algebra Blessett, Lalah
Hathaway, Gretchen Parlato, Leni Stern and Becca Stevens;
hip-hop giant Q-Tip (who performs on and co-produced two tracks); and
two Portland-based musicians, Janice Scroggins and Dr. Thara Memory, who
provided essential mentorship in Spalding’s youth.
Four
tracks feature the horn section of the American Music Program, a youth
big band of musicians age 12 to 18 directed by her longtime mentor and
teacher Dr. Memory, who conducts and
provides horn arrangements; while the soulful pianist on “Hold on Me”
is Ms. Scroggins, who Spalding studied with as a child. “Both of them
are phenomenal artists who aren’t well known outside of the Northwest,”
Spalding emphasizes. “Janice Scroggins was,
quite honestly, too deep for me when I was eight years old. She
unifies completely the sounds of gospel, blues and jazz, our American
roots music. And Dr. Thara Memory, the teacher I came up through, has
dedicated his life to spreading the message of this
music. I had to have his youth band on the record, because they’re
part of my Music Society, too.”
Among its many strengths,
Radio Music Society is a celebration of the men and women
who have helped cultivate Spalding’s talent, as well as those who have
nurtured her vision and inspired her along the way. “I’ve had the honor
and blessing of working with so many phenomenal
jazz musicians over the years,” she says. “As I’ve gotten to know them
and their music, I’ve grown to love them as family and colleagues. I
wished for an opportunity for us all to interpret songs together, so
that they can be heard and received by a larger
audience. All my personal heroes who are revered in the jazz world –
like Joe Lovano and Terri Lyne Carrington – should be heard by a
mainstream audience, because what they manifest in their music is so
beautiful, sincere and uplifting. I think they literally
bring good into the lives of the people who hear them. So I’ve tried
to put together a program of music that speaks to the non-jazz listener,
but can still provide a viable foundation for my jazz heroes to express
themselves. Hopefully, people can enjoy all
the elements of my music without being told which genres it is
‘supposedly’ a blend of. Everyone is invited to listen with no
pre-conceived notions. It’s a journey. Think and feel for yourself. But,
most importantly, ENJOY!”
“Art
doesn’t thrive with too much analyzing and explaining,” Esperanza
Spalding notes, “The idea of `radio music’ is very broad.”
Radio Music Society is destined to expand the concept even further, not to mention the horizons of the music world’s most exceptional young artist.
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