I am one of Fannie Lou Hamer 's nieces and im honored to hear this wonderful being mention my aunt but also know that I've been a fan of her music and listening to this beautiful conversation explains why ❤
Once you find out about the Great Civil Rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer and her story and the sacrifices she made for humanity you will NEVER forget her.
I’ve been saying this for a long time. Music should be communal. So sad they took away the programs. Music is healing and sacred. And like she said music education and expression shouldn’t be gate kept nor be elitist.
OMG even just the way she can speak extemporaneously with such complex nested structures of meaning, no stopping, and so much clarity... She just goes with the passion of an excited kid and the precision of a prof.
Love her spirit. She’s Intelligent, beautiful , thoughtful and Caring. Passionate! Every now and then the universe gives us someone like Esperanza! Thank you, E!
Esperanza, you are such a wise and beautiful soul. This took me to tears. I thank life for your time in this earth, for your teachings. Please always let your heart guide you so you can continue to guide us into truth and Hope (Esperanza). Keep doing interviews (now and then). Your ideas are as beautiful and deep as your music. Love from Mexico, D.
Oh my GAWD... this resonated SO MUCH with me...especially around the 28-minute mark when you spoke about your Berklee experience. That was so SPOT-ON for me. Right on for expressing this and letting us know we weren't alone in feeling this way. It was my dream to go to Berklee and all I wanted to do was be immersed in the experience. I went as an older adult, cut ties with my cushy govt job to pursue music for a living only to come to a similar realization after being there for a few. Even later, when I started to post some excerpts of bass examples on one of my pages (I was never the best reader, having started late) but attempting to share my influences and some musical knowledge with others, one of the educators (who I won't name) publically and (I feel) harshly chastised me for making a mistake on a transcription. It wasn't totally wrong, but it wasn't the "Berklee-accepted standard." So off-putting and counter to the reason most of us are doing music in the first place. Anyway, I digress. Thanks for sharing your experience, and all the best, always!
I'm 42 and I rarely watch artists' interviews, but wow, what an amazing conversation. I could try to explain how much I needed this today, but words are not enough. Just thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Sorry to ask something irrelevant..but i was curious why your age is relevant regarding watching artists interviews..reason for my question is that i am 50 and i watch a bunch of them.. is this strange ?
That was amazing. "Our inheritance as a species...." I live in Australia and am a musician. It blows me away, the general disdain most people have here for music. We absolutely squander that inheritance. This made me very emotional to hear.
God I love this woman...I've seen her three times in live performances and her singing and music always gives me chills down my spine. She's just spectacular!!
Wow... Hearing her describe her experience at Berklee College of Music is very interesting. Having taught at an "institution of high learning in the arts" there is a kind of elitism that gets engrained and I think teachers often feel they have to uphold this schema maybe because they're pressured by an overwhelming universal conception of "high art" which can make the whole experience tight restrictive, not at all expansive and open.
Esperanza, you are a real one in every sense of the word! You are a treasure. A friend of mine and I once came to a workshop you did at Stanford some time after your first or second album. I tried to play you a tune of mine, but I was crushing on you so hard and was so shy I could barely get through it. 😂You liked my friend Milan’s tune better. She wasn’t so shy and delivered! Thank you for the respect and reverence with which you hold, life, culture and music. And thank you for your words on music education. I sat my six year old down as I combed his hair before school today on his birthday and he listened to your words with rapt attention. Then he said, “I want to learn all the instruments!” Ashe!
"A lifelong love affair with her instrument is all we need to hear! So humble of a person Esperanza lives to be. As it is written … "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips." Allow us to grant Esperanza her lifetime flowers as a musical prodigy. Modesty mates with Esperanza's overall beauty! "Humility comes before honor." As was Jimi Hendrix, and other musicians/artists, Esperanza was born to be genius in her field. Awesome interview!!! 💯
Beautiful ending, that is right, sis, Music is connection to the inner source, the spirit. May God guides us to remember our reciprocal ways of being on this Earth
What a great interview! I had a privelage to be in Berklee during the same time as Esperanza. Met her in the hallway of the building with piano classes. Esperanza practised practically NON-STOP, taking brakes only for gigging. Wonderful person.
I am a complete idiot for mispronouncing Milton Nascimento's name! I first heard Clube da Esquina more than 30 years ago when I was a teenager and it BLEW MY MIND. The bells in San Vicente still make me tear up today. Thank you all for the nice comments about this interview and also...please forgive my horrible pronunciation of Milton's surname! I appreciate the grace...:)
Wow she is a breath of fresh air. Guy Raz was on point to be silent for the most part. This discussion is so rich, and powerful. She spoke to so many things I needed,
I appreciated him just yielding the floor---not every interviewer has the instinct to listen without constant interjection/projection/interpretation. He stayed curious and kept his ears open and we all benefited!
I usually just watch part of videos like this, or the 'excerpts' but she is so captivating in her responses that I just don't want to see anything more than this. This is one of the best interviews I've ever seen with a musician. Her insight about the art and the spirit is remarkable. She is one of few who truly follows the muse and became successful for it.
That was absolutely fabulous. Love the notion of the importance of keeping song in our lives to help maintain spiritual posture. Mike Stern always says: "You gotta keep playing, man, because it's good for the soul!"
From the first time I heard her music, I fell in love with her creativity and soul ❤️. It was like I knew her and felt all her emotions when she let me hear them. Lol Thank you Esperanza 🙏🏽 I look forward to enjoy her future music and inspiration.
This is one of the best artist interviews, just in terms of expressing developing identity, creative process, reverence, and understanding how that's placed in what is a commodity industry, and staying sane.... there aren't very many artists at all that I have heard be so clear-thinking, and generously sharing, on these sorts of topics.
I so appreciate her mention of what I'll call "authentic being"starting around 11:07 where she speaks about how when an artist is clicked into their voice, not emulating another's, or presenting something conceived , but just being themselves fully, as they arrived. There is something in that ! We hear it, (as she mentions )in the music of Nascimento, Shorter, Hancock, Bach etc...their music seems to click us into the spiritual dimension. It's familiar, like standing in a forest and locking eyes with a passing Buck, and the awe that comes with a moment like that... Beautiful conversation.
this just randomly popped up in my feed. I feel like at times Guy didn't know how to engage with the depth and more spiritual-centered responses Esperanza was sharing, but i'm glad he asked the questions that he did and what she shared was so brilliant and deeply relevant to the present times, and made me feel so affirmed. thanks so much
First found out about Esperanza some 9 years ago & she never ceases to inspire, managed to catch a fair bit of the rerun of the making of Exposure 77 over the last few days - truly sublime!!
Her ability to share language to describe the journey of a musician is beautiful. Her love for her craft and ability to be genuine helps to truly understand her genius in the music.
Big Esperanza fan here 💛 and what she says about fame- , I’ve heard this said so many times…. Just started listening to this interview, but it’s super interesting. Thanks a bunch to both of you 🙏
Thank you so much for this interview! What a wonderful being! Her comments on self-doubt , of being at the mercy of the process, and of course placing love in front are all reflective of her genius. We are lucky to be living in the same time as Esperanza Spalding.
I love substantive and meaningful conversations! The vibration/frequency of this conversation affected my vibration; it raised my vibration. I love when people acknowledge the Divine and the sacredness that comes through us authentically when we are in touch with the divine within us. I appreciate Esperanza's authenticity. I felt inspired and moved. Thank you! Peace and love to and for ALL sentient beings!
My god this is a well of knowledge and wisdom - thank you for this insight and conversation. Been a fan since ‘I know that you know’ can’t express how much love I feel in Ms. Spalding - I do however feel like the way academia effects music is interesting and seems to have lasting affects, not always positive
There is always good and bad. Look at 9/11. The good? For about a month or so, people in NYC were nice as could be. Everyone was touched by the truth that life happens fast and we lost a lot of people but it could have been so much worse. Take the best and leave the rest. That goes for faith in God, as well. People judge the teaching of Christ by the people who espouse it. Not all are even close to good. Jazz? People don’t give it a chance. Listen and feel the vibes. Shalom
“Music has charms to soothe a savage breast...” I remember James Moody at a bit past middle age saying what sounded absurd. He said, "I'm still a student. I'm hoping to master my instruments one day." Then he went on to play an ascending parallel glissando - like yodeling on a flute and my heart nearly exploded. I saw Moody on the same stage at the old Lighthouse with Ray Brown, Shelly Manne and Milt Jackson, (and I think Roger Kellaway). This night, Milt turned to glare ad Ray who was arranging his sheet music. Ray looked up at said to Milt, "It's taken me 40 years to learn to read, and I'm not giving up my music, so..." Albert Einstein famously noted, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” So... It's mostly in the passion, but you also have to have the feeling, the understanding - and a special talent helps.
Myself a multi-instrumentalist musician, ever since I saw Esperanza playing @NobelPrize I *absolutely admired* her 😍 - Milton I got to know years before that and I even named my son after one of his songs 🥳🥰
Wow ! What a deep, honest, clean , soul . Esperanza is almost an embodiment of divine ! listening to her music it’s an eminent gratifications , it’s not just talent , oh no,no.., it’s more then that. I agree when she said she is a form of portal she inherited from the generations before her and she is there to reinterpret what was there before and elevate it her way , the Esperanza way and it’s something , very !
Yes the thing that's so striking about Milton's Clube da Esquina is that it represents a communal effort - a group of friends making music together with love and friendship at the basis of it. This music erodes all borders, and invites the listener into the club. It's a vision for something better which never fails to move me. Let's keep it alive.
Esperanza is an "old soul" who connects with the human experience beyond human experience. She's connected to the legacy of Jazz & Black experience and our ancestors.
My introduction to Esperanza Spalding was her Austin City Limits concert and since then I have been a fan. So refreshing and a powerful new force in Jazz.
It’s amazing how passion is palpable. It’s like a whole world opens up. So glad I found my first instrument. Can’t wait until I can speak well with it lol. This is inspirational🎸
Esperanza is not only a gifted musician, she is a brilliant and observant person!!! Music is a gift from God that everyone is designed to passionately enjoy and some are designed to passionately play as a means of expression. Esperanza is where she is because God made a way for her to use her gifts and give him praise!!! It's not an accident!!! Thank you for a riveting and revealing interview!!!
As someone who is not a believer in anything supernatural, I do, with all of my heart and mind, love how music effects all of me. Please, do not get me wrong. I am not someone who is under the impression that anyone who attributes to their experiences of any art form a connection to something supernatural as being silly nor deluded. People, regardless of identity/beliefs/nonbelief, have experiences which are personal and that is a wonderful thing. In a live performance of Esperanza Spalding and along with the wondrous artists who surround her, we all can have a diversity of breathtaking experiences. I typed far too much. 🌸
I love this interview!!! Being an artivist, creating from a place that is rooted in the reality of earth and spirit and love is just realistic. Art is nature, the creative spirit and action. I'm not preaching I just really appreciate Esperanza's gift and sharing of her experience. Beautiful and inspiring. Thank you!
Thank you both. This is very inspiring. I feel that pain after workout tastes different than pain from bruise. I loved this talk, again, thank you for sharing the deep
🩵🌱💚 Brilliant conversation. But.. is writing pain or is it allowing openness to not know what’s to come, yet giving into it.. wholeheartedly. That’s everything from joy to pain to joy.. love to all. Bless.
Wow! What a wonderful and emotionally mature human being. Thank you both for this incredible interview. I've always respected and appreciated her accomplishments and obvious talent but there were times during her responses where it felt like she was inside my head 🤯. I'm deeply humbled, emotional and inspired after seeing this and now it's time to go compose something 🙏❤️
The first time I heard Esperanza was the BET Prince concert. Her version of "If I was your girlfriend" blew me away. I have listened to her work since then. I am a fan.
I love her communication skills, her music is majestic and her mind and communication skills paint vivid pictures, I love the Berklee story of the high fallutin crème de le crème🤣🤣🤣🤣
I have loved music all my life. I've never learned to read or write it. When I hear conversations like this, I feel like I know nothing. Like I've never even scratched the surface. One of my fears is that I'll finally "get it" on the day I die. I totally don't get free or avant garde Jazz. I absolutely love Esparanza, but this whole conversation is over my head. I think better understanding equals better enjoyment.
She is brilliant. One of the few artists I post on my IG. The live performance of album was so good. Please do another. Songwriting like giving birth? I am a composer, I guess there are parallels? It is a long process to get a beauty tho 😊
yes.. I remember when getting an 'ALBUM' was a thing.. and you listened until you memorised every note.. Le Mystère des voix bulgares... Zap mama.. Journeys in Afropea.. Ayub Ogada 'En Mana Kuoyo'.. "Idir Dhá Chomhairle"
I really appreciate listening to musicians like Esperanza, who are keeping their curiosity open to be the student in wanting to learn and challenge themselves. Most mainstream pop artists don't take that leap into expanding their soul and their musical experience. They get caught up in the limelight of the moment that is artificially created by the fake music machine.
![กี่หมื่นฟ้า | Your Sky Series EP.1 [1/4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vLGjxFL6U_I/mqdefault.jpg)
I am one of Fannie Lou Hamer 's nieces and im honored to hear this wonderful being mention my aunt but also know that I've been a fan of her music and listening to this beautiful conversation explains why ❤
Once you find out about the Great Civil Rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer and her story and the sacrifices she made for humanity you will NEVER forget her.
As much as I love her music, I think I love the fact that she’s just a wonderfully positive thoughtful spirit.
Yes no ego or pretentiousness at all
I’ve been saying this for a long time. Music should be communal. So sad they took away the programs. Music is healing and sacred. And like she said music education and expression shouldn’t be gate kept nor be elitist.
OMG even just the way she can speak extemporaneously with such complex nested structures of meaning, no stopping, and so much clarity... She just goes with the passion of an excited kid and the precision of a prof.
This was so well said @keithklassen5320 and expressed my thoughts on how playful and incisive her language and observations were
Agreed! So impressive.
And it's quite remarkable how authentically humble, enthusiastic, and unpretentious she is for someone of her extraordinary talent.
I love how he's super respectful like "yeah you're like Mozart ya know", and Esperanza's just happy to be able to do her job.
Love her spirit. She’s Intelligent, beautiful , thoughtful and Caring. Passionate! Every now and then the universe gives us someone like Esperanza! Thank you, E!
Her music is AMAZING! 35:52
My new dream collaboration is Esperanza w/Robert Glasper, ROOTS, and/or Samara Joy
Her, Thundercat and Flying Lotus would be a dream come true!
She does have a version of Afro Blue w. Robert !
Yessss
add the AfricanS singer on this list.. Fatumata, Oumou Sangare. Esperanza is a
treasure...
Esperanza, you are such a wise and beautiful soul. This took me to tears. I thank life for your time in this earth, for your teachings. Please always let your heart guide you so you can continue to guide us into truth and Hope (Esperanza).
Keep doing interviews (now and then). Your ideas are as beautiful and deep as your music.
Love from Mexico,
D.
Oh my GAWD... this resonated SO MUCH with me...especially around the 28-minute mark when you spoke about your Berklee experience. That was so SPOT-ON for me. Right on for expressing this and letting us know we weren't alone in feeling this way. It was my dream to go to Berklee and all I wanted to do was be immersed in the experience. I went as an older adult, cut ties with my cushy govt job to pursue music for a living only to come to a similar realization after being there for a few. Even later, when I started to post some excerpts of bass examples on one of my pages (I was never the best reader, having started late) but attempting to share my influences and some musical knowledge with others, one of the educators (who I won't name) publically and (I feel) harshly chastised me for making a mistake on a transcription. It wasn't totally wrong, but it wasn't the "Berklee-accepted standard." So off-putting and counter to the reason most of us are doing music in the first place. Anyway, I digress. Thanks for sharing your experience, and all the best, always!
"this is our inheritance as a species". What a profound statement.
Could you time tag please ? 🙏
@@moltango @20:49 💖
I'm 42 and I rarely watch artists' interviews, but wow, what an amazing conversation. I could try to explain how much I needed this today, but words are not enough. Just thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Sorry to ask something irrelevant..but i was curious why your age is relevant regarding watching artists interviews..reason for my question is that i am 50 and i watch a bunch of them.. is this strange ?
That was amazing. "Our inheritance as a species...." I live in Australia and am a musician. It blows me away, the general disdain most people have here for music. We absolutely squander that inheritance. This made me very emotional to hear.
Same thing in new zealand. Musicians are really undervalued in our culture for some reason. Maybe it's the tall poppy syndrome!
Wow! In addition to being such an incredible musician, Esperanza Spalding has such an intelligent, insightful and expressive personality. Bravo!!!!
I just love this woman and she's so worth the hype even though she doesn't see it!
God I love this woman...I've seen her three times in live performances and her singing and music always gives me chills down my spine. She's just spectacular!!
I LOVE Esperanza Spalding!! ❤❤ This interview with her is deeply touching!!
Wow... Hearing her describe her experience at Berklee College of Music is very interesting. Having taught at an "institution of high learning in the arts" there is a kind of elitism that gets engrained and I think teachers often feel they have to uphold this schema maybe because they're pressured by an overwhelming universal conception of "high art" which can make the whole experience tight restrictive, not at all expansive and open.
Esperanza, you are a real one in every sense of the word! You are a treasure. A friend of mine and I once came to a workshop you did at Stanford some time after your first or second album. I tried to play you a tune of mine, but I was crushing on you so hard and was so shy I could barely get through it. 😂You liked my friend Milan’s tune better. She wasn’t so shy and delivered! Thank you for the respect and reverence with which you hold, life, culture and music. And thank you for your words on music education. I sat my six year old down as I combed his hair before school today on his birthday and he listened to your words with rapt attention. Then he said, “I want to learn all the instruments!” Ashe!
"A lifelong love affair with her instrument is all we need to hear! So humble of a person Esperanza lives to be. As it is written … "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips." Allow us to grant Esperanza her lifetime flowers as a musical prodigy. Modesty mates with Esperanza's overall beauty! "Humility comes before honor." As was Jimi Hendrix, and other musicians/artists, Esperanza was born to be genius in her field. Awesome interview!!! 💯
I could listen to her for hours. She would make a great motivational speaker. Very intelligent individual.
She is the embodied reminder that humanity is not all doomed. What a mind. Absolutely love her.
When she is looking for a word and she rolls her eyes is the must beautiful thing in this planet. I am super found of you Esperanza Spalding.
Great interview. I’m blown away by her creativity and her intellect. Very inspiring
Beautiful ending, that is right, sis, Music is connection to the inner source, the spirit. May God guides us to remember our reciprocal ways of being on this Earth
What a great interview! I had a privelage to be in Berklee during the same time as Esperanza. Met her in the hallway of the building with piano classes. Esperanza practised practically NON-STOP, taking brakes only for gigging. Wonderful person.
wasn't expecting giggle breaks. love that image
This was lovely. Thanks to Esperanza and the show for sharing this.
I am a complete idiot for mispronouncing Milton Nascimento's name! I first heard Clube da Esquina more than 30 years ago when I was a teenager and it BLEW MY MIND. The bells in San Vicente still make me tear up today. Thank you all for the nice comments about this interview and also...please forgive my horrible pronunciation of Milton's surname! I appreciate the grace...:)
Thanks for humbling yourself!! Peace from Brasil!!
You are exceptionally good listener and a gracious and thoughtful interviewer!
Wow she is a breath of fresh air. Guy Raz was on point to be silent for the most part. This discussion is so rich, and powerful. She spoke to so many things I needed,
I appreciated him just yielding the floor---not every interviewer has the instinct to listen without constant interjection/projection/interpretation. He stayed curious and kept his ears open and we all benefited!
This is such a treasure of an episode! thank you for interviewing Esperanza!
I usually just watch part of videos like this, or the 'excerpts' but she is so captivating in her responses that I just don't want to see anything more than this. This is one of the best interviews I've ever seen with a musician. Her insight about the art and the spirit is remarkable. She is one of few who truly follows the muse and became successful for it.
That was absolutely fabulous. Love the notion of the importance of keeping song in our lives to help maintain spiritual posture. Mike Stern always says: "You gotta keep playing, man, because it's good for the soul!"
From the first time I heard her music, I fell in love with her creativity and soul ❤️. It was like I knew her and felt all her emotions when she let me hear them. Lol Thank you Esperanza 🙏🏽 I look forward to enjoy her future music and inspiration.
This is one of the best artist interviews, just in terms of expressing developing identity, creative process, reverence, and understanding how that's placed in what is a commodity industry, and staying sane.... there aren't very many artists at all that I have heard be so clear-thinking, and generously sharing, on these sorts of topics.
❤ Esperanza!!! Divina musician and so beautifull person!!
One word..Practice ! Talent isnt enough.
What a beautiful, talented musician she is. Saw her live at a small venue early in her career, she was amazing!
So eloquent and passionate about music and the sacred connection it illuminates!
Esperanza’s album with Milton was deeply moving for me. and this interview is fantastic… beautiful discussion
Thank you So So much for interviewing Esperanza Spalding.
What an amazing artist and creative voice 🙏🏾❤️❤️❤️❤️
Both sides... within another realm... and locked on something beyond...😎💯🎵🎶🎼
I so appreciate her mention of what I'll call "authentic being"starting around 11:07 where she speaks about how when an artist is clicked into their voice, not emulating another's, or presenting something conceived , but just being themselves fully, as they arrived. There is something in that ! We hear it, (as she mentions )in the music of Nascimento, Shorter, Hancock, Bach etc...their music seems to click us into the spiritual dimension. It's familiar, like standing in a forest and locking eyes with a passing Buck, and the awe that comes with a moment like that... Beautiful conversation.
I remember when Spaulding won the album of the year and nobody I was watching it with knew who she was... Dope musician
Spalding not Spaulding
@@kimreese2044 omg somehow I've broken the 11th commandment 😯😯😯😯. I didn't need ur correction for my auto correct, but thanks anyways
@PancakeDiaries
Well you got it. And you're welcome. 🤣
@@kimreese2044 oh no, this feels like harassment/cyber bullying
@@PancakeDiaries
Hahahahahahahahaha 🤣
I don't listen to jazz or Spalding much (only heard Emily's D+Evolution) but this conversation is just so fun and inspiring
this just randomly popped up in my feed. I feel like at times Guy didn't know how to engage with the depth and more spiritual-centered responses Esperanza was sharing, but i'm glad he asked the questions that he did and what she shared was so brilliant and deeply relevant to the present times, and made me feel so affirmed. thanks so much
First found out about Esperanza some 9 years ago & she never ceases to inspire, managed to catch a fair bit of the rerun of the making of Exposure 77 over the last few days - truly sublime!!
Her ability to share language to describe the journey of a musician is beautiful. Her love for her craft and ability to be genuine helps to truly understand her genius in the music.
Big Esperanza fan here 💛 and what she says about fame- , I’ve heard this said so many times….
Just started listening to this interview, but it’s super interesting. Thanks a bunch to both of you 🙏
Thank you so much for this interview! What a wonderful being! Her comments on self-doubt , of being at the mercy of the process, and of course placing love in front are all reflective of her genius. We are lucky to be living in the same time as Esperanza Spalding.
Great interview!
Esperanza means hope. This is appropriate for our state of music. I love her.
I didn’t know who this person was prior to the interview. I am now a fan. Great interview!
WE need more of this..Protect this woman at any costs...Prince thought so much of her,so......................
I love substantive and meaningful conversations! The vibration/frequency of this conversation affected my vibration; it raised my vibration. I love when people acknowledge the Divine and the sacredness that comes through us authentically when we are in touch with the divine within us. I appreciate Esperanza's authenticity. I felt inspired and moved. Thank you! Peace and love to and for ALL sentient beings!
My god this is a well of knowledge and wisdom - thank you for this insight and conversation. Been a fan since ‘I know that you know’ can’t express how much love I feel in Ms. Spalding - I do however feel like the way academia effects music is interesting and seems to have lasting affects, not always positive
There is always good and bad. Look at 9/11. The good? For about a month or so, people in NYC were nice as could be. Everyone was touched by the truth that life happens fast and we lost a lot of people but it could have been so much worse. Take the best and leave the rest. That goes for faith in God, as well. People judge the teaching of Christ by the people who espouse it. Not all are even close to good. Jazz? People don’t give it a chance. Listen and feel the vibes. Shalom
I agree with the academia statement. I enjoyed watercolor painting so much more before I started watching TH-cam videos 😂
“Music has charms to soothe a savage breast...” I remember James Moody at a bit past middle age saying what sounded absurd. He said, "I'm still a student. I'm hoping to master my instruments one day." Then he went on to play an ascending parallel glissando - like yodeling on a flute and my heart nearly exploded. I saw Moody on the same stage at the old Lighthouse with Ray Brown, Shelly Manne and Milt Jackson, (and I think Roger Kellaway). This night, Milt turned to glare ad Ray who was arranging his sheet music. Ray looked up at said to Milt, "It's taken me 40 years to learn to read, and I'm not giving up my music, so..." Albert Einstein famously noted, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” So... It's mostly in the passion, but you also have to have the feeling, the understanding - and a special talent helps.
Myself a multi-instrumentalist musician, ever since I saw Esperanza playing @NobelPrize I *absolutely admired* her 😍 - Milton I got to know years before that and I even named my son after one of his songs 🥳🥰
Exxxxxcellent interview! She continues to amaze.
Amazing
I like her music. Now I like her as a person as well. What a nice conversation
Wow ! What a deep, honest, clean , soul . Esperanza is almost an embodiment of divine ! listening to her music it’s an eminent gratifications , it’s not just talent , oh no,no.., it’s more then that. I agree when she said she is a form of portal she inherited from the generations before her and she is there to reinterpret what was there before and elevate it her way , the Esperanza way and it’s something , very !
Beautiful stuff. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and the lamp above you looks like a peacock hat 🙂
Yes the thing that's so striking about Milton's Clube da Esquina is that it represents a communal effort - a group of friends making music together with love and friendship at the basis of it. This music erodes all borders, and invites the listener into the club. It's a vision for something better which never fails to move me. Let's keep it alive.
It's great to see she has not changed since seeing her back in the day, jamming with Leroy Vinergar. Her early mentor.
Esperanza is an "old soul" who connects with the human experience beyond human experience. She's connected to the legacy of Jazz & Black experience and our ancestors.
She's got a birthday coming up this month (Oct)! Looking so youthful.
This wonderful conversation by such a young woman has inspired so much in me. So honest, human, and brilliant. I will explore her music more.
My introduction to Esperanza Spalding was her Austin City Limits concert and since then I have been a fan. So refreshing and a powerful new force in Jazz.
It’s amazing how passion is palpable. It’s like a whole world opens up. So glad I found my first instrument. Can’t wait until I can speak well with it lol. This is inspirational🎸
Esperanza is not only a gifted musician, she is a brilliant and observant person!!! Music is a gift from God that everyone is designed to passionately enjoy and some are designed to passionately play as a means of expression. Esperanza is where she is because God made a way for her to use her gifts and give him praise!!! It's not an accident!!! Thank you for a riveting and revealing interview!!!
As someone who is not a believer in anything supernatural, I do, with all of my heart and mind, love how music effects all of me. Please, do not get me wrong. I am not someone who is under the impression that anyone who attributes to their experiences of any art form a connection to something supernatural as being silly nor deluded. People, regardless of identity/beliefs/nonbelief, have experiences which are personal and that is a wonderful thing. In a live performance of Esperanza Spalding and along with the wondrous artists who surround her, we all can have a diversity of breathtaking experiences. I typed far too much. 🌸
A great interview. You really had a conversation with her.
i needed this
I love this interview!!! Being an artivist, creating from a place that is rooted in the reality of earth and spirit and love is just realistic. Art is nature, the creative spirit and action. I'm not preaching I just really appreciate Esperanza's gift and sharing of her experience. Beautiful and inspiring. Thank you!
ESPERANZA SPALDING is certainly a unique character driven to push the boundaries of possibility.
wow.. one of the most inspiring interviews I've seen..
Deep calleth unto DEEP...😎💯🎵🎶🎼
This was so uplifting and clarifying on so many levels. I wondered why I started watching/listening … now I know . Thank you🙏🏼❤ #grateful
Muchas Gracias por esta entrevista, el nivel de profundidad de las ideas de ella es realmente conmovedor;
The Portland music scene has always been a great model. I hope it can keep it up!
i'm going to watch this interview again. many thanks.
And share it w/peeps who love beauty, art & music. 💞😊
Thank you both. This is very inspiring. I feel that pain after workout tastes different than pain from bruise. I loved this talk, again, thank you for sharing the deep
The greatest artists are as eloquent as their art is. And she shows that here.
🩵🌱💚 Brilliant conversation. But.. is writing pain or is it allowing openness to not know what’s to come, yet giving into it.. wholeheartedly. That’s everything from joy to pain to joy.. love to all. Bless.
the experience to listen to this young lady is very humbling.. she is just amazing and refreshing !
Wow! What a wonderful and emotionally mature human being. Thank you both for this incredible interview.
I've always respected and appreciated her accomplishments and obvious talent but there were times during her responses where it felt like she was inside my head 🤯.
I'm deeply humbled, emotional and inspired after seeing this and now it's time to go compose something 🙏❤️
Esperanza keeping the spark of human dignity and vibrational excellence alive and well. Most inspiring!!!!!! Love!
The first time I heard Esperanza was the BET Prince concert. Her version of "If I was your girlfriend" blew me away. I have listened to her work since then. I am a fan.
so great and real !!!!
What a wonderful interview. Thank you
Very humble. I've never seen anyone play bass and sing at the same time as well she does. Seems prodigal to me.
I flippin' LOVE this!
Esperanza Spaulding definitely hit the wall.
Beautiful, authentic, vulnerable and empowered. More wisdom in her little finger than my whole body! Thank you x
I love her communication skills, her music is majestic and her mind and communication skills paint vivid pictures, I love the Berklee story of the high fallutin crème de le crème🤣🤣🤣🤣
I have loved music all my life. I've never learned to read or write it. When I hear conversations like this, I feel like I know nothing. Like I've never even scratched the surface. One of my fears is that I'll finally "get it" on the day I die. I totally don't get free or avant garde Jazz. I absolutely love Esparanza, but this whole conversation is over my head. I think better understanding equals better enjoyment.
She is brilliant. One of the few artists I post on my IG. The live performance of album was so good. Please do another. Songwriting like giving birth? I am a composer, I guess there are parallels? It is a long process to get a beauty tho 😊
yes.. I remember when getting an 'ALBUM' was a thing.. and you listened until you memorised every note..
Le Mystère des voix bulgares... Zap mama.. Journeys in Afropea.. Ayub Ogada 'En Mana Kuoyo'.. "Idir Dhá Chomhairle"
I really appreciate listening to musicians like Esperanza, who are keeping their curiosity open to be the student in wanting to learn and challenge themselves. Most mainstream pop artists don't take that leap into expanding their soul and their musical experience. They get caught up in the limelight of the moment that is artificially created by the fake music machine.
This is a great interview. I've loved Esperanza since I heard 'Precious'. She's really.... bright and luminous. Lovely.
Bravo... culture/s where music/art is everywhere... no zoo for art... !!!