Famecrawler
5 Things About Esperanza Spalding: Who is This Great Grammy Winner?
Esperanza Spalding was the big surprise winner for the evening. The jazz bassist, won over Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons, Drake and the one and only (and the odds on favorite in the category) Justin Beiber.
So who is this Esperanza Spalding?
For being part of the jazz community, she’s quite young. Esperanza Spalding was born in 1984 which makes her just just 26.
She was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up in a area a area that she described as “ghetto” and “pretty scary.”
Esperanza Spalding credits her interest in becoming a bass player to seeing the great cellist Yo Yo Ma on Mister Rodger’s Neighborhood at the age of four.
At the young age of five she taught herself to play the violin, playing in the Chamber Music Society of Oregon until she was 15.
She went on to play the bass, after played the cello and realized she loved it and wrote and performed songs for the band Noise for Pretend.
After graduating from college, she got a very prestigious gig, she was hired as a professor at the Berklee College of Music and became the youngest professor in the history of the school. And she was just 20.
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2 Comments
Dianoh commented on Feb 14 11 at 10:01 amIt was apparent that the Grammy’s were sending a message…Barbara Streisand. ..a voice like heaven and Mick Jagger, Rocks! It certainly wasn’t about who the most popular was (try telling a 10yr old that Justin isn’t the “bestest” in the world and you just lost a friend) or even Drake, well it’s a battle..But the Grammy committee spoke…It’s not a joke or about popularity, it’s true talent..This young lady was just an unknown prodigy and I am quite pleased to now being introduced to an amazing talent…
Dafina commented on Feb 14 11 at 5:23 pmI agree with Dianoh’s well-written comment. Yes, it’s all about “true talent”! No need for gimmicks, Esperanza is thoroughly authentic, a talent extraordinaire. Right on, Grammy’s! Finally, a little depth in the music industry of the misguided with huge pocketbooks. The likes of our lovely but self-serving Beyonce or Rhianna who send a message to our girls that basically speaks to their own extreme disrespect for the youth and for womanhood, too, actually. And, here’s this fresh-faced, talented, beautiful young woman who didn’t grow up spoon-fed but in a “real scary” ghetto, who gives our young, vulnerable girls, of all races, a cleaner message, an example we’d like to see our young girls follow. Esperanza Spalding is a class act.
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