Like the best Mitchell albums, this albums bears listening to, over and over again, and seems fresh each time. Esperanza is not yet the lyricist Joni was and is, but she is working on it. I would liken it to Joni Mitchell’s great jazz influenced pop albums, like for example Court and Spark or the Hissing of Summer Lawns. Yet you cannot escape the jazz sensibility of the whole thing. It is clear enough she has been influenced by not only Jones, but Donny Hathaway, and various tuneful R+B and soul artists (including Stevie). Secondly, some of the tracks are infectious and immediately singable- for example Black Gold or City of Roses (yes she is from Portland Or.). This album is clearly mostly tunes composed arranged and sung by Esperanza (dig her world class Fro) though we do have Lalah Hathaway on a track, and also her friend Joe Lovano. In some ways I would compare it to the award winning older album by Quincy Jones called The Dude, though that was more of an all star ensemble cast. It is a viable candidate for album of the year already, and I don’t just mean jazz lp of the year.įirst of all, what strikes you about the album is the diversity of textures, and yet the accessibility of it all. Don’t let anyone stifle your creative spark by trying to categorize you and then judge you on the basis that ‘this is not how traditional jazz should sound’. She’s just following her muse and doing what she feels led to do. In the article in Jazz Times, she makes clear that she does not see herself as some sort of reviver of the jazz tradition or of interest in jazz. It is more accessible to mp3 mavens and downloaders in general. Of the two albums, Radio Music Society will definitely get more MOR airplay, and indeed cross over onto pop charts as well. Indeed, her work could be called genre-bending, to good effect. Spalding cares as little for genre pigeon holing as Spalding cares for non-orange basketballs. While the previous album has lots of strings, the new one has lots of grooves and jazz orchestra stuff. Her new CD, Radio Music Society, comes on the heels of her having already won last year’s Grammy for Best new Artist, the first time a jazz musician has ever done so and according to the interview in Jazz Times, we should see this album as a companion to its predecessor, Chamber Music Society.
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