Esperanza Spalding @ Spoleto

For Esperanza, IMO, it matters which version of herself she brings. When she performs standards, I can't imagine anybody being able to walk away - she just captures every bit of attention I can bring when she's in that mode - great voice and presence and she does get around on that bass.

But when she gets into her experimental/original stuff, I'm not so iinterested - not dissing her obvious skills, I just don't find it interesting to listen to and quickly grow bored. YMMV

I have a similar "relationship" with Coltrane.

 

Thanks for your review. I checked out the Spoleto Festival promo, a 12 Little Spells video was prominently featured. At least around here, tickets for any of her shows are very tough to get, and typically quite expensive. If I went and didn't dig it, I would hang and try to learn something, certainly. But due diligence on my part would be a given as well, I think. So, I curious about what your expectations may have been?

The two most blatant walkout scenarios I've witnessed were at Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman shows in the mid-80s. But it was pretty easy to understand, since it was at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle, back when tickets were less than ten bucks. Lots of folks took a chance that didn't pan out for them, which was a big part of what that festival was about at the time. Those were two phenomenal shows in my book though, especially the Ornette one. In both cases they went way outside, even by their standards. That's my jam, but it's always been a bit of a tough sell.

 

Some people don't like music that challenges them, Esperanza plays challenging music. She’s the epitome of an artist, always changing. Some people just want ‘wine tasting’ jazz if you know what I mean.

 

Jah, mon. At one of the old Mt Hood Jazz Festival shows McCoy Tyner put on a killer set to mostly crickets. But the all-star Getz/Brubeck/Gillespie set was all about the lowest common denominator, which was a little disappointing to me. But it worked for the crowd, so...

However, don't get me wrong. Actual winery tasting room gigs were one of my main jams for nearly a decade. Somebody's got to play the wallpaper role.