January 6, 2012

Link

On March 20th, 2012, Heads Up International will release Esperanza Spalding’s Radio Music Society, a companion to her 2010 album Chamber Music Society which earned her a Grammy for Best New Artist.

Each of the album’s 12 songs are accompanied by conceptual music videos, shot in various locations including New York City; Barcelona, Spain; and Portland, Oregon; available to purchasers of Radio Music Society as a digital download or a DVD on the deluxe version.

Spalding says about the album:

“Originally I thought it would be fun to release a double album…One disc with an intimate, subtle exploration of chamber works and a second one in which jazz musicians explore song forms and melodies that are formatted more along the lines of what we would categorize as ‘pop songs.’

Those are the two things that really interest me, and it intrigues me to think about different presentation approaches while writing each kind of song.“

Track List:

"Radio Song"

"Hold On Me"

"Let Her"

"Cinnamon Tree"

"Crowned and Kissed"

"Smile Like That"

"Vague Suspicions"

"Land Of The Free"

"Black Gold"

"City of Roses"

"I Can't Help It" (Stevie Wonder cover)

"Endangered Species"

The "Black Gold" music video.

Spring tour itinerary:

April 2012

18 - Buffalo, NY - Center for the Arts
19 - Cleveland, OH - Metro Campus Auditorium
21 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
22 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
24 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
25 - Portland, OR - McMenamin's Crystal Ballroom
27 - Hollywood, CA - The Music Box

May 2012

1 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
2 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
3 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
5 - Austin, TX - Paramount Theatre
23 - Paris, France - La Cigale
28 - London, United Kingdom

Full album streaming @ NPR.

The deluxe edition includes 11 videos and bonus material.

Cool.

An artist with Prince's magic earned her a grammy for best new artist over Justin Bieber...

^^What does Prince have to do with anything?

MickyDolenz said:

^^What does Prince have to do with anything?

THANK YOU.

This is some great new music! Esperanza is fantastic!

[Edited 3/20/12 7:04am]

Esperanza and her band jam to a live version of "Radio Song" on the David Letterman Show on Mar 19.

Here are a couple of reviews (the first is mine, hope you enjoy it):

Esperanza Spalding's New Album: Beautiful. Will It Get Radio Play?

http://www.dominionofnewy...2jEt8U7Xko

Music review: Esperanza Spalding: ‘Radio Music Society’

http://www.washingtonpost...story.html

@controversy99

What an excellent and thorough review. You cover the overall theme and each song. EACH SONG! It's so rare to read album reviews with that much depth in this age.

Also, yr thesis is fasicinating!

~~~~~

I have been sleeping on Ms. Esperanza. Every time I've seen her perform live on tv shows, it's a snooze fest. I referred to her as a whisper-singer. I also saw the vide of Black Gold but it bored me. The song and video are full of tropes, albeit inspirational.

I've listened to Radio Music Society (on Spotify ) and I love it. I love it so much I almost don't have any favorites. The tracks are equally worthy of my ear. The one that stands out is her interpretation of Wayne Shorter's Endangered Species with Lalah Hathaway.

[Edited 3/23/12 15:11pm]

This album bored me to tears. I ended up selling both CDs of hers that I owned. Her voice is too boring and nondescript.

MidniteMagnet said:

This album bored me to tears. I ended up selling both CDs of hers that I owned. Her voice is too boring and nondescript.

Prince likes it & both admirations ultimately won her a grammy...

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

MidniteMagnet said:

This album bored me to tears. I ended up selling both CDs of hers that I owned. Her voice is too boring and nondescript.

Prince likes it & both admirations ultimately won her a grammy...

An opinion is an opinion.

MickyDolenz said:

I'm really surprised she covered "I Can't Help It" since another jazz/pop singer, Gretchen Parlato (sp?) covered it a few years back. Their versions sound similar. Not exactly the same, but there are some common elements.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=D69aT-IFelQ

[Edited 3/23/12 23:52pm]

[Edited 3/23/12 23:54pm]

[Edited 3/23/12 23:56pm]

Album Review

by C. Barton

Link

No matter how you felt about Esperanza Spalding’s 2011 Grammy win — and if you’re still genuinely disappointed, it’s time for a long look in the mirror — there’s no questioning her willingness to live up to it. Conceived as a companion to her breakthrough “Chamber Music Society,” Spalding’s follow-up melds airtight jazz with pop, funk and soul with such disarming assurance that it could be shipped with an introduction from the bassist-composer reading, “Now that I have your attention...”

Also released in a deluxe edition with sumptuously filmed videos for 11 of its 12 songs, “Radio Music Society” primarily delivers the sort of upbeat head-bobbers celebrated in opener “Radio Song,” a quaint, lilting valentine to musical discovery anchored by Spalding’s nimble vocal and rubbery electric bass line. Like the soulful sway of lead single “Black Gold,” it manages to aim for those who might not ordinarily listen to jazz while keeping the music firmly in its bones. Saxophone great Joe Lovano guests on a percolating cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Can’t Help It,” and 71-year-old drummer Billy Hart turns up on the swooning, big band-accented “Hold on Me.”

Two tracks co-produced by Q-Tip merge with the record’s breezy, jazz-funk bounce seamlessly, including “City of Roses,” a Banana Republic-commissioned valentine to her Portland home that’s about as idyllic and tourism-friendly as it sounds.

Sometimes Spalding’s ambitions get the better of her, as with the moody but meandering social commentary “Vague Suspicions.” Her interpretation of Wayne Shorter’s “Endangered Species” strains with such knotty, fusion-shaded complexity that there’s little room left to breathe. Still, there’s no arguing with Spalding’s talent for disregarding expectations while spinning her influences into something new. Where she looks next is anybody’s guess, but it’ll be fascinating to hear.

Here is my fav. shot I took of her a couple of years ago:

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/ActorJLB/EsperanzaSpaldingSummerstageNY_3.jpg[/img:$uid]

Free NYC show Tonight: http://www.apple.com/reta...4thstreet/

You need a wrist band to get in and they are available from at 9:00AM. Doors open at 7:30 PM the performance is at 8:00 PM.

[Edited 3/26/12 6:43am]

Upload your pics here (if you manage to get some shots).

She looks like Prince new girlfriend Andy Allo...

awesome cd.

I wonder why the article says she's covering Stevie, when he never put it out himself, and was first released by Michael Jackson. I think Susaye Green from The Supremes wrote the lyrics and Stevie did the music.

On occasion writers cite the original composer(s) of the song being covered instead of the performer.

[Edited 3/26/12 17:05pm]

vizionheiry said:

@controversy99

What an excellent and thorough review. You cover the overall theme and each song. EACH SONG! It's so rare to read album reviews with that much depth in this age.

Also, yr thesis is fasicinating!

~~~~~

I have been sleeping on Ms. Esperanza. Every time I've seen her perform live on tv shows, it's a snooze fest. I referred to her as a whisper-singer. I also saw the vide of Black Gold but it bored me. The song and video are full of tropes, albeit inspirational.

I've listened to Radio Music Society (on Spotify ) and I love it. I love it so much I almost don't have any favorites. The tracks are equally worthy of my ear. The one that stands out is her interpretation of Wayne Shorter's Endangered Species with Lalah Hathaway.

[Edited 3/23/12 15:11pm]

Thanks for your kind words on the review. I try to provide some detail in my reviews, so that people get something out of it. Glad you enjoyed it.

I'm still boppin to Radio Music Society. It makes me want to check out more jazz singers--old & new. Sarah Vaughan, for example, is an amazing singer, and yet I only have a few of her songs on some jazz compilation album. What a shame. Hmm, I might need to expand my collection a bit.

Love it! Love her!