Great Music While High: Esperanza Spalding

Every now and then you come across a musician so powerful and dynamic that you can just sense that what you’re listening to is truly unique and special. Esperanza Spalding is one such musician.

A Grammy Award winning jazz artist, Spalding is known for her bright and high singing voice, her original lyrics and compositions, and most of all, for her incredible skills on the bass. Her soul and emotion shine through her music, which touches on many genres, and her live performances are not to be missed. One really needs to see her fingers gliding over the bass to truly understand her excellence. She speaks three languages, and thus often sings in Spanish and Portuguese as well as English. She plays upright bass as well as electric, and influences from many cultures can be detected in her music.

Spalding has been playing instruments since age five, when she taught herself to play violin. From there she jumped around to many other instruments before settling on the bass, which she says was like, “waking up one day and realizing you’re in love with a co-worker.” From there she went on to earn a full musical scholarship to Berklee College of Music and eventually launch a successful musical career. She has won four Grammys, and was the first jazz artist to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

Currently, she has released four albums; Junjo, Esperanza, Chamber Music Society and Radio Music Society. Treat yourself by spending some time relaxing and allowing Esperanza Spalding’s ethereal music take you away.