esperanza spalding
...a virtuosic bass player. Her voice is capable of acrobatics... She’s setting an extreme example for young women in music - Drummer Terri Lyne Carrington
...a virtuosic bass player. Her voice is capable of acrobatics... She’s setting an extreme example for young women in music - Drummer Terri Lyne Carrington
Five-time GRAMMY-Award winning vocalist, bassist and composer esperanza spalding makes her Aotearoa debut at the 2024 Wellington Jazz Festival.
Seamlessly weaving jazz, soul, funk, rock, and improvisation, spalding’s music defies categorisation. Performing tracks from her dynamic back catalogue, including the critically acclaimed Emily's D+Evolution and the ethereal 12 Little Spells, spalding’s visionary talent and fearless creativity will be on full display.
Featuring Eric Doob on percussion, hailed as “a drummer to watch” by Modern Drummer Magazine, and GRAMMY-Award winner Matt Stevens on guitar, this is an all-star trio. For a festival first, audiences will also enjoy two incredible dancers from AntonioBrownDance company, bringing spalding’s work to life in a whole new dimension.
Live at the Opera House for one night only, secure your seats and witness the unparalleled artistry of "jazz genius" (NPR) esperanza spalding.
Inā ngā tohu nunui kua riro i a te pūkenga nei i runga i āna mahi waiata, mahi whakahī, purei panguru anō hoki. Ko Esperanza Spalding tēnei, ā, ko tana taunga tuatahi tēnei ki te Puoro Tautito o Pōneke.
Tē taea te whakarōpū i te momo o āna waiata, inā te whakaranunga, inā te auaha. Ka tū te whakaaturanga nei ki te Opera House mō te pō kotahi anahe.
Born in 1984 in Portland, Oregon, 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 through various combinations of instrumental music, improvisation, singing, composition, poetry, dance, therapeutic research, storytelling, teaching, regenerative agriculture, urban land & artist-sanctuary custodianship, and growing in love as a daughter, sister, cousin, niece, auntie, great-auntie, friend, while collaboratively decolonizing within and through her hometown community.
She co-founded and serves as lead curator for Prismid Inc., a non-profit that creates and stewards artist residency, performance, and workshop space in Portland, Oregon.
With her dance company Off Brand gOdds (co-founded with Antonio Brown) and the Songwrights Apothecary Lab she leads multi-week performance, teaching, workshop, and therapeutic-arts research residencies in collaboration with colleges and arts venues across the Americas, and throughout the world.
*European-African ancestored being influenced by American cultures living in Indigenous Territories of Turtle Island
$59.00—$109.00
| Premium | $109.00 |
| Premium Early-Bird | $99.00 |
| A-Reserve | $89.00 |
| B-Reserve | $79.00 |
| C-Reserve | $59.00 |
