First Listen Live: Esperanza Spalding, 'Emily's D+Evolution'
March 10, 2016 12:07 AM   Subscribe

Fulfilling the performance-art vision of her spirit-muse Emily, Esperanza Spalding played the music of her forthcoming album Emily's D+Evolution in concert at BRIC House in Brooklyn, N.Y. [1h3m video] on Thursday, March 3. WFUV and NPR Music presented a live video webstream of the performance as part of the First Listen Live series.

Emily's D+Evolution marks a new sound for Spalding. Here, she picks up the electric bass (and occasionally the piano) and surrounds herself with a power trio of electric guitar and drums — a louder, proggier, weirder funk-rock direction for the jazz-trained bassist and vocalist. It's part of a broad theatrical vision for the character Emily, inspired by broad philosophical musings on resourcefulness and the nature of progress. On stage, she was surrounded by choreographed routines, a marionette closet and three backup singers dressed all in yellow.
posted by hippybear (3 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm not sure I connect with this version of her as well as I do some others, but completely tremendous musician; very deep gift.
posted by Wolof at 1:43 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]


We saw her live version of "Emily" last summer. About 2 songs in, people started leaving. And then more left. In droves. We stayed for the whole set. It was interesting, but it wasn't what I (or most of the other attendees) was expecting. +1 on the tremendous musician comment.
posted by billcicletta at 8:52 AM on March 10, 2016


They were walking out why? They thought they were going to a Lincoln Center kind of thing and they got like this trippy multimedia performance with electric bass?
posted by thelonius at 12:12 PM on March 10, 2016


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