Five-time GRAMMY Award-winning vocalist, bass player and composer esperanza spalding will launch her highly anticipated return tour of Australia in Brisbane at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s (QPAC) Concert Hall for a very special one-night-only performance on 22 October 2024.
Featuring two musicians and two dancers, this performance emphasises the simplicity and intimacy of spalding’s voice, bass, and songs as she performs music from all eight of her previous studio albums, a selection from her current releases, plus a special preview of her forthcoming project.
esperanza spalding (a.k.a. irma nejando) is an eaabibacliitoti* artist, trained and initiated in the North American (masculine) jazz lineage and tradition. Her work interweaves various combinations of instrumental music, improvisation, singing, composition, poetry, dance, therapeutic research, storytelling, teaching, restorative urban land and artist-sanctuary custodianship, and growing in love as a daughter, sister, cousin, niece, auntie, great-auntie, friend.
One of the most unique talents in music today, spalding has created a jazz oeuvre that seamlessly fuses soul, funk, pop, and rock into an intoxicating musical blend.
In 2011 she became the first jazz musician to win the GRAMMY for Best New Artist, beating out Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence & the Machine, and Mumford and Sons. She has since won the GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Album an impressive three times, most recently in 2022.
Her latest album Milton + esperanza is a collaboration with legendary Brazilian singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento whom spalding has long admired since being introduced to his music in the early 2000s. With tracks in both English and Portuguese, the album features a mixture of classics from Nascimento’s catalogue, new songs from spalding and Nascimento, and covers from other artists including The Beatles and Michael Jackson. The Guardian gave it a perfect five-star review.
spalding is no stranger to collaborating with icons, having previously performed with Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, John Legend, Alicia Keys, and Janelle Monáe to name a few.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see one of the world’s great musicians. esperanza spalding is presented by QPAC and Brisbane International Jazz Festival.
Tickets for her QPAC show are on sale via qpac.com.au or 136 246.
*European-African ancestored being influenced by American cultures living in Indigenous Territories of Turtle Island