Exposure
Another favorite of the Grammys (although she did not win this year) is Esperanza Spalding. I am not a real fan of her music, but her talent and artistry is undeniable, and beyond category.
She was born in October 1984 in Portland, Oregon. She was playing piano and violin by the time she was five, and was concertmaster of the Chamber Music Society of Oregon by the time she was 15.
Spalding picked up the bass when she entered high school at 15. By the age of 16 she had dropped out of high school, got her GED, and received a scholarship to Portland State University to study music. Her bass teacher there suggested she apply to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and after her audition she received a full scholarship to the school. The day she graduated in 2005 she was hired as a professor at The Berklee School, the youngest ever.
Spalding started broadcasting the writing, arranging, and recording of Exposure at 9am PST on September 12, 2017 via Facebook Live for 77 hours straight. The live stream took place at NRG Recording Studios and included breaks for sleep and sustenance, adding a layer of reality-TV voyeurism to the experiment. Spalding chose to do the experiment in 77 hours because she was once told by a reverend that "seven is a divine number. It’s the number of completion. It represents the earthly culmination of a divine thought", and she enjoyed that sentiment. She has stated that the premise of Exposure is that all the facets of creators only need the right environment to coalesce into completeness.
This video comes from that 77 hour "session". Esperanza plays bass, sings, and simultaneously walks the band through the complex composition, calling out changes and directions as part of her vocals. It is one of the most amazing examples of live creativity that I have ever seen.
https://youtu.be/966ZswEDkyw
and here is the link to the final recording:
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