Esperanza Spalding: Background

Esperanza Spalding

Background:

• Esperanza Spalding was born in Portland, Oregon, USA in 1984.
• She was considered a musical prodigy, playing violin in the Chamber Music Society of Oregon at five years old. She soon moved from violin to double bass, studying at the Portland State University and later at the Berklee School of Music. In 2017 she was appointed Professor of the Practice of Music at Harvard University.
• She has won four Grammy awards, including ‘Best new artist’ in 2011, where she was in competition with Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons, and Justin Bieber.
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• Esperanza has wide musical tastes, and her own compositions show influences from jazz, blues, funk and Latin-American music – especially Brazilian styles.

"Esperanza"

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• Esperanza, Spalding's second studio album, was released in 2008.
• The album is heavily inspired by different cultures. On the album, she sings in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
• After Spalding's Grammy Award win in February 2011, the album entered the Billboard 200 at 138.
• Samba Em Prelúdio is the final song on the album.

Samba Em Prelúdio

• Samba Em Prelúdio was originally written by Roberto Baden Powell Aquino in 1962, playing a major part in the bossa nova ‘explosion’ in that decade. His music mixed Brazilian rhythms with complex jazz harmonies.
• Vinicius de Moraes wrote the lyrics for the song.
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• Samba Em Prelúdio is a bossa nova. ‘Bossa nova’ means ‘new trend’ in Brazilian, and was one of the most popular musical styles of the late 1950's and early 1960's. The style mixes elements of Brazilian samba with jazz.
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