BEGIN:VCALENDAR METHOD:PUBLISH CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:-//EVDB//www.eventful.com//EN VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:Esperanza Spalding *Please note new date. Tickets purchas ed for the original date 10/7 will be honored.Refunds available at poi nt of purchase.* in New York City at Highline Ballroom - Eventful BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART:20081008T200000 DTSTAMP:20081008T140817Z SUMMARY:Esperanza Spalding *Please note new date. Tickets purchased for the original date 10/7 will be honored.Refunds available at point of purchase.* DESCRIPTION: October 8\,2008 Concert starts @ 8PM Doors open @ 6 PM T ickets $15.00 in advance$20.00 at door. Buy Tickets Online [more] Gen eral Admission Seated Show / All Ages / First come\, first seated / $1 0 min per person at tables / Full dinner menu available If “esperanza” is the Spanish word for hope\, then bassist\, vocalist and composer E speranza Spalding could not have been given a more fitting name at bir th. Blessed with uncanny instrumental chops\, a multi-lingual voice th at is part angel and part siren\, and a natural beauty that borders on the hypnotic\, the 23-year-old prodigy-turned-pro might well be the h ope for the future of jazz and instrumental music. “She is an irresist ible performer\,” says The Seattle Times. “She sings and plays bass at the same time and does a sort of interpretive dance as she plays…Her analysis of what’s going on in jazz today is perceptive.” The one pur suit that made sense to Spalding from a very early age was music. At a ge four\, after watching classical cellist Yo Yo Ma perform on an epis ode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood\, the roadmap was suddenly very cle ar. “That was when I realized that I wanted to do something musical\,” she says. “It was definitely the thing that hipped me to the whole id ea of music as a creative pursuit.” Within a year\, she had essentiall y taught herself to play the violin well enough to land a spot in The Chamber Music Society of Oregon\, a community orchestra that was open to both children and adult musicians. She stayed with the group for te n years\, and by age 15\, she had been elevated to a concertmaster pos ition. But by then\, she had also discovered the bass\, and all of the non-classical avenues that the instrument could open for her. Suddenl y\, playing classical music in a community orchestra wasn’t enough for this young teenager anymore. Before long she was playing blues\, funk \, hip-hop and a variety of other styles on the local club circuit. “T he funny thing was\, I was the songwriter\, but I had never experience d love before. Being the lyricist and the lead singer\, I was making u p songs about red wagons\, toys and other childish interests. No one k new what I was singing about\, but they liked the sound of it and they just ate it up.” At 16\, Spalding left high school for good. Armed wi th her GED and aided by a generous scholarship\, she enrolled in the m usic program at Portland State University. “I was definitely the young est bass player in the program\,” she says. “I was 16\, and I had been playing the bass for about a year and a half. Most of the cats in the program had already had at least eight years of training under their belts\, and I was trying to play in these orchestras and do these Bach cello suites. It wasn’t really flying\, but if nothing else\, my teac hers were saying\, ‘Okay\, she does have talent.’” Berklee College of Music was the place where the pieces all came together and doors star ted opening. After a move to the opposite coast and three years of acc elerated study\, she not only earned a B.M.\, but also signed on as an instructor in 2005 at the age of 20 – an appointment that has made he r the youngest faculty member in the history of the college. She is th e 2005 recipient of the prestigious Boston Jazz Society scholarship fo r outstanding musicianship. In addition to the studying and the teachi ng\, the Berklee years have also created a host of networking opportun ities. Since her move to the East Coast\, Spalding has worked with sev eral notable artists\, including pianist Michel Camilo\, vibraphonist Dave Samuels\, bassist Stanley Clarke\, guitarist Pat Metheny\, singer Patti Austin and saxophonists Donald Harrison and Joe Lovano. “Workin g with Joe was terrifying\,” she recalls\, “but he’s a really generous person. I don’t know if I was ready for the gig or not\, but he had a lot of faith in me. It was an amazing learning experience.” The newes t chapter of Spalding’s journey begins with the release of her forthco ming international debut recording for Heads Up in May 2008. The album will be the first opportunity for a worldwide audience to witness her mesmerizing talents as an instrumentalist\, vocalist and composer\, b ut it’s just the start of what she hopes to achieve in a career where the creative opportunities are almost limitless. Esperanza Spalding m yspace page LOCATION:Highline Ballroom @ 431 West Sixteenth Street, New York, New York 10011 United States SEQUENCE:1223474897 UID:E0-001-015862115-6 URL:http://eventful.com/E0-001-015862115-6 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR