The Esperanza Spalding residency at the famous Blue Note Jazz Club on New York City’s W 3rd Street in Greenwich Village from February 18 thru March 2 was, as expected, full of unexpected surprises. However, the musicianship was off the charts.
Esperanza is a once-in-a-generational musical genius. a rare talent who may be the most overall musically gifted artist in jazz. No one can play bass — whether upright or electric bass — so skillfully while singing so beautifully and simultaneously as she can. There is no one I know on earth — and I mean no one — who can independently play the bass on the beat while singing “behind the beat” with such incredible skill, feeling, and finesse. For almost two decades, no one has matched Esperanza in this unique category.
But she doesn’t want the night to be all about her.
Throughout her two week residency, she would invite a Who’s Who of amazing musicians from different generations to join her on stage both from the old guard and the new: from the legendary tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, as well as one of today’s young emerging voices in jazz, Rico Jones.
During the night we attended as part of her late 10:30pm show on February 19, she called up the great pianist and composer Fred Hersch to join her on stage for two classic songs, Gershwin & Gershwin’s wonderful jazz standard But Not For Me, and Hersch’s own crooner My Wish (Valentine). During the former, Spalding without her bass put on a jazz vocal improvisation masterclass, “inventing” strangely serpentine and delightfully witty lyrics on the fly for over eighty percent of the song in full flight, as the fully packed house audience watched amazed.
On that February 19th late night second show we attended, Spalding performed an eight song one hour and ten minute set as musically diverse and skillful as you will ever see. The vocal and instrumental performances of such highly difficult pieces was so subtly yet seamlessly executed that few non-musicians would take notice. Fortunately several gorgeous songs from her diverse catalog and Esperanza’s charisma itself can take any casual music fan to new heights.
Esperanza’s Broad Musical Repertoire
From Brazilian ballads to old crooners, to dissonant jazz, Spalding covered a wide variety of World Music from her diverse album discography.
Ever the lover of Brazilian music, right-off the bat she started with her opening song, from her 2008 album Esperanza, the brilliantly relaxing and breezy Ponta de Areia where she effortlessly plays upright bass while bellowing longing calls entirely in Portuguese. This gorgeous moving composition was a collaboration with the great Milton Nacimento, a magical musical partnership forged early on that would yield many other outstanding songs to this day.
Spalding then immediately segued into her own lilting upbeat composition called Strive Grease, telling the audience when they feel low, they can always rejuvenate their soul through movement of the hips. That Strive Grease is the special “stuff” that exists in everyone of us all in the hips!
One thing I must mention: throughout the entire set both in between (and even during) songs, Esperanza immersed herself in exuberant and engaging dialogue with her audience. She really knows how to tell a story!
By her 3rd song, Esperanza was ready to throw in more esoteric material, such as the brilliantly weird Dancing the Animal about animals and smartphones, followed by the even more brilliantly cacophonous Our Reunion, an original collaboration borne from a five-hour studio recording session where she composed the lyrics while tired with the song’s music composer and guitarist Matt Stevens.
Our Reunion is an absolute masterpiece, and I imagine one of the most difficult pieces to perform. Esperanza executed amazing counterpoint upright bass with offbeat rhythms while singing perfectly dissonant notes over them. Her incredible performance while navigating within these diametrically opposed spaces was spellbinding.
Time to Take a Break
Naturally after such intensity, she needed a well-deserved break. That’s when she called up the great Fred Hersch on piano to accompany her on the aforementioned fifth and sixth songs But Not For Me and My Wish (Valentine). These tunes appeared to be highly impromptu selections, as she initially chided while onstage with Hersch “What songs do you wanna play Fred?”, letting the audience in on the secret. What audacity and confidence!
The Big Finale: Ending the Night with Exuberant Defiance
As sassy and fun as those Hersch songs were, you know Esperanza had to go out with a major statement. An ultimate Big Bang!
Her seventh song was Esperanza’s own soulful jazzy 2012 classic Black Gold, a timeless work with lyrics that proudly celebrates her African heritage. Matt Stevens on a droning electric guitar gave this soulful tune just enough of a backyard country feel to add to its splendid soulfulness. As usual Esperanza’s vocals and bass playing were immaculate.
To end the night, Spalding fittingly performed Wayne Shorter’s enigmatic jazz odyssey Endangered Species. This is a song that I once had seen her perform so brilliantly only as a vocalist during a major award ceremony.
However this species was entirely a different “animal” from that award show. With Esperanza brilliantly playing her 5-string electric bass continuously for ten minutes while singing such difficult weaving melodies so beautifully was simply unbelievable to watch.
Her bass playing reminded me of Jaco. (If you don’t know who Jaco Pastorius was, there is an overwhelming consensus among high level musicians of all genres that the late Jaco was the greatest innovator there ever was on the instrument). Hence, this was a stunning virtuosic performance both on electric bass and on vocals.
Wherever and whenever there happens to be a chance she will be performing with her band in your area, if you love soulful jazz, World Music, and appreciate brilliant musicianship, an Esperanza Spalding concert should definitely be on any true music lover’s bucket list.
Read this article on the incredible bassist/singer Esperanza Spalding where I originally wrote it in The Village View:
Esperanza Spalding Takes Us on a Sublime Musical Journey at the Blue Note
Kaju Roberto is an accomplished musician, singer/ songwriter, journalist, and an award-winning producer. He is the artist Rad Jet on Spotify