Ottensen said:

Jatrig said:

She hasn't worked as closely with Prince as his other "protegee's" but he's definitely a mentor to her -- is she the first to (so far) actually having some commercial fame on her own??

Sweetie, um, Prince is not a mentor to her. She was already famous, touring the globe, and an esteemed artist in the jazz world before becoming friends with Prince...not to mention she was a professor at the highest caliber institute for contemporary music in the nation. Esperanza Spalding has never been nor ever will be his protege, she is a formidable talent held in the highest regard by her musical peers, who just happened to become Prince's friend.

Not to mention, she had already released two albums before she won the Grammy for best new artist.

Jatrig, maybe you should read this article that was in the NY Times:

February 14, 2011

Best-Kept Secret Now Has a Grammy

by Nate Chinen

Who is Esperanza Spalding?

That was the question being asked by many music fans after she won best new artist at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night. A similar question was undoubtedly on the minds of the two nominees widely regarded as favorites: Justin Bieber, the teen-pop juggernaut, and Drake, the slyly melancholy hip-hop star.

In any case, Ms. Spalding, a petite, precociously gifted 26-year-old bassist and singer originally from Portland, Ore., was among the evening’s major surprises, and the first jazz musician to receive the award in decades, if not ever.

“Thank you to the Academy for even nominating me in this category,” she said just after reaching the podium, as if hurrying to acknowledge the unlikeliness of her win. Within moments her name had become a trending topic on Twitter, mainly for reasons of curiosity — or spite. (Don’t mess with Mr. Bieber’s fans.) More than 18 hours later — an eternity, as these things go — the trend was still holding strong.

Her win was reminiscent, in some respects, of Herbie Hancock’s unexpected triumph at the 2008 Grammys, when “River: The Joni Letters” (Verve) won album of the year. Then as now there was startled disbelief outside the precincts of jazz, and giddy jubilation within. And, then as now, there was reflexive talk of real music prevailing, righteously. But Mr. Hancock is Mr. Hancock: not just a brilliant pianist but a grand elder and crossover pioneer, just the sort of guy to earn the loyalty of voters in the Recording Academy. (On Sunday his self-released 2010 album, “The Imagine Project,” earned him two awards, for best improvised jazz solo and best pop collaboration with vocals.)

Ms. Spalding is something else: a charismatic whirlwind proudly hailed, for a while now, as some kind of vital infusion for jazz. Certainly she arrived with great reserves of talent and composure, becoming, at 20, one of the youngest musicians hired to teach at the Berklee College of Music, where she had just earned her degree. She released an auspicious instrumental debut, “Junjo” on the Ayva label in 2006, and an unfocused but appealing vocal follow-up, “Esperanza,” on Heads Up International in 2008. The album she released last year, also on Heads Up, is “Chamber Music Society,” which presents her lissome, light-gauge voice in a sparer light, framed by quietly sparkling arrangements. It’s a good album, though it probably didn’t deserve a Grammy nomination, and didn’t get one. Which raises another question: Not who, but why Ms. Spalding, and why now?

The guidelines for best new artist, which have long been a point of contention, revolve around some perception of cultural relevance. And Ms. Spalding’s relevance has never really been rooted in her output as a recording artist. As an authoritative upright bassist who also nimbly sings, she has no exact peer or precedent: the particulars of her talent are unique. And in the interval between “Esperanza” and “Chamber Music Society,” she has wowed David Letterman, appeared in a Banana Republic ad campaign and performed by request at the White House and the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. She was tapped by Prince for a tribute at the BET Awards, and then as his opener at Madison Square Garden.

Her success is only tangential to jazz, really, even though jazz percolates through her music, along with Stevie Wonder-ish soul and Brazilian pop and much else besides. Some of her most enthusiastic admirers come from the more jazz-literate, bohemian wing of hip-hop: on Monday the Roots’ drummer-bandleader, Questlove, took to Twitter to complain that a best-kept secret had been revealed. Her next album is being produced by Q-Tip.

With hindsight, the calculus behind her win seems deceptively clear, though the Recording Academy doesn’t divulge vote tallies. Drake and Mr. Bieber — both Canadians, both accessing a current of R&B — may have split one segment of the voting body. The other two nominees, Florence & the Machine and Mumford & Sons — both English, both slightly throwback in their appeal — may have split another. More important, though, was the marvel of Ms. Spalding’s effervescent prowess as a musician and a singer. Virtuosity has always played well with Grammy voters, and so has the comforting vision of a bright young artist upholding established ideals of quality.

In that sense Ms. Spalding might not be the Grammy heir to Mr. Hancock so much as a successor of sorts to Norah Jones, who took home five awards in 2003, including best new artist and album of the year. Ms. Jones has since become part of the Grammy gentry, as she demonstrated on Sunday night, singing a winsome “Jolene” in tribute to Dolly Parton, with guitar and vocal accompaniment from Keith Urban and John Mayer.

Similarly, during a preshow Webcast on Sunday — the part of the Grammys in which most of the awards are bestowed, with the genial efficiency of a church raffle — Ms. Spalding served as host, alongside her fellow vocalist Bobby McFerrin. They opened the ceremony with a version of Eddie Harris’s “Freedom Jazz Dance,” a crossover jazz tune, and went on to accept dozens of awards on behalf of their absentee recipients. “The podium accepts,” she said again and again, smiling demurely, and perhaps testing out the feeling of winning.

Esperanza is amazingly talented I got to see her live recently and WOW!! and yes she has not all of a sudden appeared its not like this was her first album. She has been making a name for herself for a while now.

She actuall appeared on a track on the John Blackwell Project cd '4Ever Jia', its a beautiful track called 'No Ordinary Day'

OnlyNDaUsa said:

on a side note the Justin Bieber-bots are mad that spalding won best new act. That acutaly is making the news!

Can you blame them? The kid sold out MSG in like 24 mins...plus he is what everyone was talking about. Credit should be given where credit is due. Esperanza is cool, but best new artist? I think not! The Grammys effed up alot of the awards this year!

vitriol said:

Shorty said:

Nora Jones and Alicia Keys aren't "protege's" either but I'd say these are similar success stories.

[Edited 2/14/11 11:07am]

Those two are fucking rubbish compared to Spalding (and even without comparison...).

Norah Jones is far from rubbish! She is the one that made me appreciate different music... Alicia Keys is cool too, I like her. Spalding can only hope she can make it to their success status. She has a long way to go btw..

QuasarOfRock said:

I don't think anyone associates her with Prince, aside from Prince fans.

And I've never heard anyone other than Prince fans to associate Alicia or Norah with P. To most folks, Alicia became Alicia with Fallen. I am a fan of both Alicia and Norah, as well as P, and couldn't tell you what the 2 ladies did with him before they were mainstream!

Shorty said:

this is the associated artists forum. NOT the Protege forum.

like it or not Janelle and Esperanze are now associated with Prince.

Agreed, anyone associted with him should be discussed here. He has worked with Janelle, Esperanza, Larry, Chaka, etc they are associated.

On a side note, while I agree Esperanza was performing before she met Prince (though when/where she met him isn't spelled out is it?), alot of people didn't know she existed until the BET awards and her tribute to Prince. So he is responsible for her exposure. Heck, w/o her opening for him, I sure would have never seen her live.

So her association with Prince is definately bringing her to mainstream...which is what counts when it comes down to it as an artist. You can have all the teaching jobs in the world, etc. if nobody knows your name, you aren't making that big of an impact. Since she did the tribute to Prince, now millions of young girls have seen her talents that wouldn't have seen them before. So thanks to Prince...she has exposure, and perhaps a Grammy!

DaphneLovesPR1NCE said:

Shorty said:

this is the associated artists forum. NOT the Protege forum.

like it or not Janelle and Esperanze are now associated with Prince.

Agreed, anyone associted with him should be discussed here. He has worked with Janelle, Esperanza, Larry, Chaka, etc they are associated.

On a side note, while I agree Esperanza was performing before she met Prince (though when/where she met him isn't spelled out is it?), alot of people didn't know she existed until the BET awards and her tribute to Prince. So he is responsible for her exposure. Heck, w/o her opening for him, I sure would have never seen her live.

So her association with Prince is definately bringing her to mainstream...which is what counts when it comes down to it as an artist. You can have all the teaching jobs in the world, etc. if nobody knows your name, you aren't making that big of an impact. Since she did the tribute to Prince, now millions of young girls have seen her talents that wouldn't have seen them before. So thanks to Prince...she has exposure, and perhaps a Grammy!

That's ridiculous. Just because you and the other pop mainstream fans don't know jack about contemporary jazz doesn't mean that the JAZZ COMMUNITY doesn't. She was making a HUGE impact in it, which is probably what brought her to Prince's attention as well. She wasn't some nobody; she was an up-and-coming success. You know, you'd sound more honest if you had said maybe she's getting the attention she's getting because she's young and pretty and accomplished, like Miri Ben-Ari. At least that's believable. The Granmmy association was well aware of her. Her second CD got lots of praise by critics and she had done every major talk show and had a write up in People magazine as well as many others BEFORE she did the Prince tribute.

Really, just because you don't know how someone came up doesn't mean you have to make up fairy tales. Stop trying to attribute other peoples' hard work and success to Prince. Its embarrassing.

[Edited 2/23/11 1:53am]

BlaqueKnight said:

DaphneLovesPR1NCE said:

Agreed, anyone associted with him should be discussed here. He has worked with Janelle, Esperanza, Larry, Chaka, etc they are associated.

On a side note, while I agree Esperanza was performing before she met Prince (though when/where she met him isn't spelled out is it?), alot of people didn't know she existed until the BET awards and her tribute to Prince. So he is responsible for her exposure. Heck, w/o her opening for him, I sure would have never seen her live.

So her association with Prince is definately bringing her to mainstream...which is what counts when it comes down to it as an artist. You can have all the teaching jobs in the world, etc. if nobody knows your name, you aren't making that big of an impact. Since she did the tribute to Prince, now millions of young girls have seen her talents that wouldn't have seen them before. So thanks to Prince...she has exposure, and perhaps a Grammy!

That's ridiculous. Just because you and the other pop mainstream fans don't know jack about contemporary jazz doesn't mean that the JAZZ COMMUNITY doesn't. She was making a HUGE impact in it, which is probably what brought her to Prince's attention as well. She wasn't some nobody; she was an up-and-coming success. You know, you'd sound more honest if you had said maybe she's getting the attention she's getting because she's young and pretty and accomplished, like Miri Ben-Ari. At least that's believable. The Granmmy association was well aware of her. Her second CD got lots of praise by critics and she had done every major talk show and had a write up in People magazine as well as many others BEFORE she did the Prince tribute.

Really, just because you don't know how someone came up doesn't mean you have to make up fairy tales. Stop trying to attribute other peoples' hard work and success to Prince. Its embarrassing.

[Edited 2/23/11 1:53am]

Hilarious, isn't it? these children are under the mistaken assumption that the Grammy awards are popularity contest determined by non-industry civilians

DaphneLovesPR1NCE said:

vitriol said:

Those two are fucking rubbish compared to Spalding (and even without comparison...).

Norah Jones is far from rubbish! She is the one that made me appreciate different music... Alicia Keys is cool too, I like her. Spalding can only hope she can make it to their success status. She has a long way to go btw..

Bullshit. Alicia Keys is a different demo with a diffrent story, so I won't address that. but I will say that Spalding has the same international appeal that Jones has, and that's clearly evidenced by the crowds I've witnessed turning out in droves to see this woman for the last 3 years in concert halls and critically aclaimed festivals from New York to Portugal to the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Spain. I've been seeing her concerts at least once a year since 2007 and she is a critical darling to the international performing arts media. Spalding is a high class act who is respected by real musicians, her colleagues, not unlike Jones herself. From what I can see of how people react to her internationally, she is appealing to the same demographic as Norah, and garners the same level of respect from people who actually have an understanding of music and play for a living. If you don't believe me, ask whatever bass player you know what they think of Spalding, then turn around and ask what they think of Bieber's music. You will probably face a rude awakening on just how influential this young woman has become in the public consciousness of those actually associated with music on a professional level.

BlaqueKnight said:

Shorty said:

perhaps...

but as far as the thread topic is concered, Nora and Alicia were kinda unknown untill after their appearances with Prince at paisleypark.

More B.S. Alicia Keys? Are you serious? She got nominated for 9 Grammys on her first record. She was going to be a success no matter who jumped on the train. That type of hype is CREATED and it had nothing to do with Prince. I was discussing Alicia on this site before she jumped off because I could see that product being manufactured from a mile away. There was a MASSIVE push on the part of Clive Davis to make Alicia successful and Clive has way more industry clout than Prince ever could or will. Clive made Alicia's career, not Prince.

DaphneLovesPR1NCE said:

vitriol said:

Those two are fucking rubbish compared to Spalding (and even without comparison...).

Norah Jones is far from rubbish! She is the one that made me appreciate different music... Alicia Keys is cool too, I like her. Spalding can only hope she can make it to their success status. She has a long way to go btw..

Norah Jones can't touch Esperanza.

She's a very commercial 'hotel jazz' singer.

Esperanza is a real jazz musician.

But by what you said it's plain to see you just don't know what you're talking about.

Some of the Prince fans on this site need a straight jacket.

Esperanza Spalding was showcased on a cool PBS documentary last year. Others have been aware of her talent and keen musical abilities for some time now

sosgemini said:

Some of the Prince fans on this site need a straight jacket.

You think so? Lord, if you could see the ridiculousness that's posted all over the Misty Copeland threads....

She's going to be on "The View" on Wednesday (3/2).