February 2011 Monthly Music Guide #11
February 22, 2011 Leave a comment
Looking for something new? There’s a lot of music coming out already this year and I’m trying to keep up. Here’s what I’ve been listening to lately…
Artist: Esperanza Spalding
Album: Chamber Music Society (August 17, 2010)
Style: Wailing jazz
When she won New Artist of the Year last week at the Grammy’s, this prodigy managed to anger millions of Bieber fans while catapulting her album sales into record territory for contemporary jazz, but just who is she? Even though most of us had never heard of her before, she’s been becoming quite a sensation in the high-brow jazz community, playing at Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies and the like (Thanks, Wikipedia). And you’ll sure feel cultured listening to this group explore their jazzy rhythms (Esperanza herself rocks the upright bass). Esperanza’s vocals dance with the strings over a shifting foundation of piano and percussion – sometimes light and feathery, sometimes rhythmic and rousing. Her occasional warbling high notes may be disjointing for the uninitiated, but there are also plenty of accessible, relaxing, chill jazz numbers. So give this a stream and pretend like you’re hanging out with dignitaries or cleaning your mansion.
STREAM THE WHOLE ALBUM: myspace.com/esperanzaspalding
