esperanza spalding catapulted into the cultural consciousness in 2011 when she nabbed the Grammy for Best New Artist. Not only was she the first jazz artist to receive the honor, she beat out the likes of Mumford & Sons, Florence + The Machine, Drake, and Justin Beiber. And spalding stepped onto that hallowed stage with plenty of accomplishments already under her belt. She taught herself to play the violin as a child and secured a place in the community orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Oregon, by age five. Over the next several years she mastered her preferred instrument, the upright bass, earned her GED at 16, received a bachelor’s degree from Boston’s Berklee College of Music, released three LPs, and performed for President Barack Obama thrice in 2009 (twice at the White House, once at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo where he was being honored with the peace prize).
Her scope has only grown more ambitious and expansive in the ensuing years as she’s continued releasing genre-fluid solo LPs — including her pandemic-era series of meditative “Formwelas.” She’s also significantly upped her collaboration game. In 2021 she and pioneering saxophonist Wayne Shorter debuted their jazz opera Iphigenia (composed by Shorter with a libretto by spalding). Her latest endeavor is Milton + esperanza, a sprawling, joyous, and playful jazz-samba album which she produced at the behest of Brazilian music legend Milton Nascimento’s son. The forthcoming LP (due Aug. 9 via Concord Records) features 16 tracks that celebrate and reimagine Nascimento’s beloved classics, new pieces written by spalding with Nascimento in mind, and interpretations of The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life” and Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song.” The album’s guests include Paul Simon, Lianne La Havas, Shabaka Hutchings, and more.
More: RIP Wayne Shorter: A tribute and final conversation with the jazz pioneer
And ahead of what promises to be a fully immersive performance on Thursday, Aug. 1 at Luckman Fine Arts Complex, spalding is here to share the song that put Nascimento onto her radar, a highlight from the new LP, and the song she’d want played as her “cosmic concert hype up” music (definitely listen to the full conversation for this backstory). Right off the bat, spalding makes it clear that she’s not one for small talk, so press that player button for a well-deserved mental stretch and scroll on to peep spalding’s song selects.
Wayne Shorter & Milton Nascimento – “Tarde”
Milton Nascimento & esperanza spalding – “Saudade Dos Aviões Da Panair (Feat. Lianne La Havas, Maria Gadu, Tim Bernardes, Lula Galvão)”
Elis Regina & Milton Nascimento – “O Que Foi Feito (de Vera)”