Esperanza Spalding — North Sea Jazz Festival, 2012

Full concert of Esperanza Spalding at the North Sea Jazz Festival, at Ahoy Rotterdam (Netherlands), on 7 July 2012. The American double bassist, bassist, singer and composer presents her Grammy-winning Radio Music Society project, a few months after being named Best New Artist at the 2011 Grammy Awards. This filmed live concert runs through the songs of the album — « Hold On Me », « Black Gold », « Radio Song », « Smile Like That » — punctuated by reworkings of Michael Jackson’s « I Can’t Help It » and Wayne Shorter’s « Endangered Species ». Spalding asserts an elegant, groove-driven vocal jazz at the crossroads of soul and pop, powered by her virtuosity on the bass. Filmed in one of the festival’s main halls, this performance illustrates the vitality of the new jazz generation in the early 2010s. A full concert recommended to fans of contemporary jazz.