Esperanza Spalding - Gordon Theatre (Camden, NJ; Feb. 21, 2009)

If my grandmother saw Esperanza Spalding, she would say she’s adorable. I say that she’s beyond adorable. Esperanza Spalding is a woman who sets a room on fire with the amazing power of her Afro—among many other fine qualities, of course.

Apparently this is a common sentiment.

On a windy Philly night, I ventured across the river to sketchy Camden, where every building looks vacant or en route to being vacant. There, a mixed crowd, bonded by an appreciation of jazz, specifically new and exciting jazz, made their way into the Gordon Theatre on the campus of Rutgers University. One man was particularly excited, and a broad smile contrasted his rigid jaw line and menacing-looking buddy. “I wore green—my green sweater,” he told the Will Call attendant. “I got to look sharp for my Esperanza! And I’m married! But after tonight, I’m leaving my wife for a bass player.”

That’s what Esperanza Spalding is all about when you get right down to it: she’s a bass player. This sparkling young thumper is a jazz bassist, and a ferocious one at that. Spalding has the same regal beauty as Alicia Keys, but limiting a discussion about Spalding to a simple running diatribe about her looks would be doing the young woman a massive injustice. The Esperanza Spalding show is not just a chance to scope a pretty lady—“If I had a penny for every time you undressed me with your eyes, I’d be a millionaire,” she sang to open the second song—but a chance to witness a pretty lady play the bass like few (men included) have before her. She goes back and forth between the upright and electric, and on each, runs her long fingers frantically up and down the neck. On her solos, at least one a song, she reached deep, deep, down for the low notes and way, way up top for the high notes. Her body thrust in rhythmic movements, dancing gyrations that almost looked tribal and oozed with spirituality and a pure joy for what she was doing.

This was not a jazz show for the weak. This was a jazz show for the inspired. After all, Ms. Spalding’s name does translate to hope, a fact not lost on a crowd of Obama supporters.

Esperanza Spalding’s version of a jazz show is one that got its start in the steep tradition of jazz, but was developed through a visionary scope that spans continents and cultures. Each song had its own feel and phrases, yet all shared a manic pace and gracious picking of spots by both Spalding and her backing band. The highlight of Esperanza’s backing band was the Vin Diesel-looking drummer, who hulked over his tiny jazz kit and hammered his cymbals with intense and precise rhythms. During his solo, the crowd seemed mesmerized, showing their approval with old school hoots and hollers. And he never stopped, not even once. He went from song to song, filling the few moments in between with soft beats and slight fills. I normally hate busy drummers. All of their fills and fancy-pants showboating makes me want to drink a good amount of fighting whiskey and settle problems out by the old willow tree. But not this dude. He was the most in-control, in-the-moment, in-his-head drummer I’ve ever watched play. His sticks were blurs, fuzzy memories sweeping across the toms. But more importantly, dude held it down and held it down well.

This is saying a lot given the up-tempo pace of Spalding’s songs and the death-metal starts and stops they encompass. There isn’t a laid back vibe to Spalding’s music, as perhaps the Afro would suggest. Instead her music follows change after change and her melodies follow along, behind by only a split second. The chaotic nature of the tunes did get tiresome after a while, and it came as a nice surprise when the band broke into a casual groove or flirted with more traditional jazz. But the show wasn’t meant to be casual; it was about Esperanza Spalding, who despite her soft tone during inter-song banter seems at home with a style of jazz that comes off as frantic and thriving as Camden comes off dark and ailing.

It wasn’t just jazz though. Spalding and her band deftly incorporated Latin and Afro-beat rhythms into the arrangements, as well as hints and drive-bys of Indian music, chant, and Rhythm & Blues. You really haven’t heard a person scat until you’ve heard Spalding, who is able to synch up her vocal inflections with her jolting and darting bass lines. It’s like watching a painter throwing paint onto the canvas and gold emerging—so much of it seems like it could just be a big ol’ sloppy mess, but it amazingly comes out smooth and refined, every stroke serving a purpose towards the greater good. For Spalding, the greater good is properly conveying the emotion behind her songs. She’s an expressionist, daring us to take it all in and derive meaning, take pleasure, and feel the fresh burst of experiencing something brand new.

There is no doubting the Spalding’s potential, her natural beauty, or her undeniable skill. Throwing doubt at those would be like trying to inject hope into Camden. But while hope may be hard to find on those decaying streets most nights, at least on one night, a blustery winter evening in the middle of February, hope was alive and well.

And dancing like she knows it.

DOWNLOAD: Esperanza Spalding - She Got To You (MP3) or Follow us for more Esperanza Spalding MP3s (Twitter)

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