Song:Little Fly
Album:Chamber Music Society
Bassist Esperanza Spalding is currently the most popular jazz musician to the point where she has crossed over to mainstream. She started out as a child violin prodigy. She was born Oct. 18, 1984 in Portland, OR. raised by her mom. After watching cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Esperanza taught herself to play violin. At age five, she played with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon. By the time she left that group at age 15, Esperanza was concertmaster. She learned to play bass in high school and started playing Portland clubs. She also started singing and writing for the group Noise for Pretend. She earned a scholarship to Portland State and this led to Berklee. Then she released the album Junjo in 2006. Esperanza toured with Patti Austin and an Ella Fitzgerald tribute tour. She also studied with sax player Joe Lovano and they have frequently toured together. She signed with Heads up International and the 2008 CD Esperanza was released. Heads Up was a division of the jazz label Telarc. Both companies were swallowed by Concord. Little Fly is from the 2010 album Chamber Music Society. It is a William Blake poem set to music accompanied by Esperanza's bass and strings arranged by Gil Goldstein. The other musicians were her band at the time Leo Genovese on piano and Terri Lyne Carrington on drums. Milton Nascimento and Gretchen Parlato make guest appearances. A 2010 appearance on the PBS series Austin City Limits made Esperanza the second most searched name on Google. Then she won the 2011 Best New Artist Grammy. her 2012 album Radio Music Society was an even bigger hit as it reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 200. So now she is the best selling jazz artist in the world. Esperanza has also appeared on albums by Janelle Monae and Bruno Mars. Last month she released a new CD 12 Little Spells and she is touring to support the album. I have already seen her twice but I'll go see her again if she comes to Toronto. Go see her if she's coming your way. Here's the video for Little Fly by Esperanza Spalding.
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