Look up acs in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

ACS may refer to:

• Ács, a Hungarian town

Companies and commerce[link]

• ACS:Law, a British law firm specialising in intellectual property cases
• Advanced Composites Solutions, engineering company specialized in composite materials technology
• Affiliated Computer Services (stock symbol: ACS), a business and technology outsourcing company
• Air Cess, cargo airline based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
• Alaska Communications System, former name of AT&T Alascom, an American communications services company
• Alaska Communications Systems, an American communications services company, distinct from AT&T Alascom
• Alternative compensation system, a way to allow reproduction of digital copyrighted works while still paying the authors and copyright owners
• Grupo ACS (Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A.; IBEX-35 stock symbol: ACS), a civil engineering firm based in Madrid, Spain

Education[link]

• American College of Sofia, a prestigious secondary school in Sofia, Bulgaria
• American Community School at Beirut, an international private school located in Beirut, Lebanon
• American Community School in Amman, an international school in Amman, Jordan
• ACS International Schools, a group of international schools in the UK
• Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore, a group of Methodist schools in Singapore
• Anglo-Chinese Schools, Malaysia, a group of Methodist schools in Malaysia
• Arkansas Correctional School, a school system in prisons in Arkansas
• Associated Colleges of the South, a group of leading liberal arts colleges in the United States
• Assumption College School, a catholic high school in Ontario, United States
• Alperton Community School, a secondary school in London, UK
• American Community Schools, an English-speaking private school system in Athens, Greece
• Avery Coonley School, a private elementary school in Downers Grove, Illinois, United States
• The Lehman Alternative Community School, a combined middle and high school which provides alternative education in Ithaca, New York, United States

Entertainment[link]

• Adam Carolla Show, American morning radio program
• Adventure Construction Set, a program used to construct Ultima-type videogames
• Antichrist Superstar, a 1996 rock album by Marilyn Manson
• Apolyton Civilization Site, a website for players of the Civilization series of computer games

Government and military[link]

• Accredited Certification Scheme, in the United Kingdom, a qualification scheme for workers dealing with gas appliances (see Gas Safe Register)
• Aerial Common Sensor, a reconnaissance aircraft airframe for the United States Army and Navy
• American Community Survey, a project of the United States Census Bureau
• Approved Contractor Scheme, in the United Kingdom, a quality assurance scheme for the private security industry (see Security Industry Authority)
• Army Combat Shirt, flame-resistant shirt developed for the United States Army
• Attitude control system, a spacecraft system
• Australian Customs Service, the Australian government agency responsible for the Australian border
• Auxiliary crane ship, a vessel of the United States Navy

Organizations and societies[link]

• American Cancer Society, an American medical organization
• American Chemical Society, an American professional association
• American Colonization Society, an organization that helped in founding Liberia as a colony for freed slaves
• American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, an organization of lawyers and law students in the United States
• American Cryonics Society, non-profit corporation that supports and promotes research and education into cryonics
• American CueSports Alliance, a US-based pool league
• Association of Caribbean States
• Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, an association founded England in 1973 to collect cricket data
• Audience Council Scotland
• Australian Cinematographers Society
• Australian Computer Society, an association for information and communications technology professionals

Science, technology, and medicine[link]

• ALMA Common Software, a software framework developed for Atacama Large Millimeter Array
• Acetyl-CoA Synthetase, an enzyme
• 2-Amino-3-carboxymuconic semialdehyde, a chemical in tryptophan metabolism
• Access Control Service, a cloud-based service for authentication and authorization
• Access Control Server, a component of Cisco's Network Admission Control technology
• ACS-1 and ACS-360, supercomputers designed but never completed in the 1960s by the IBM Advanced Computing Systems
• Action Code Script, a scripting language used in video games such as HeXen and Doom ports
• Acute coronary syndrome, a form of chest pain due to reduced oxygen supply to the heart muscle
• Adobe Creative Suite, a software package by Adobe Inc.
• Advanced Camera for Surveys, an instrument aboard the Hubble Space Telescope
• Advanced Control System, framework for building complex control systems
• American College of Surgeons, a fellowship of American surgeons
• American Cancer Society, a voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer
• Advanced Cataract Surgery, the modern method of cataract removal using phacoemulsification
• Anticenter shell, a supershell located outside of the galaxy
• Auto Configuration Server, management server for TR-069 compliant Customer Premises Equipment
• Automated Cartridge System, an information retrieval system, often used for library management

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Geri Allen
Background information
Born	(1957-06-12) June 12, 1957 (age 55) Pontiac, Michigan United States
Genres	Jazz, Post bop, Blues music, Funk, Gospel
Occupations	Musician Professor producer
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Motema Music Polygram Storyville Blue Note Telarc
Associated acts	Timeline
Website	www.GeriAllen.com

Geri Allen (born June 12, 1957 in Pontiac, Michigan) is an American composer/pianist educator jazz pianist, raised in Detroit, Michigan, and educated in the Detroit Public Schools. Allen has worked with many of the greats of modern music, including Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter, Ravi Coltrane, Tony Williams, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Betty Carter, and Charles Lloyd. She cites her primary influences to be her parents, Mount Vernell Allen Jr, and Barbara Jean Allen, and her primary musical influences to be, mentors Marcus Belgrave, Donald Waldon, and Betty Carter, as well as pianists, Herbie Hancock, Mary Lou Williams, Hank Jones, Alice Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Bud Powell and mentor, Dr. Billy Taylor. Allen is an Associate Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation in the School Of Music Theatre & Dance, at the University Of Michigan.

Biography[link]

Allen received her early music education at the famed Cass Technical High School in Detroit and the Jazz Development Workshop, where her mentor was the highly regarded trumpeter/teacher Marcus Belgrave.^[1] In 1979, Allen earned her bachelor's degree in jazz studies from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She studied under composer Thomas Kerr, and pianists Raymond Jackson, John Malachi, Fred Irby, Arthur Dawkins, and Komla Amoaku. After graduation, she moved to New York City, where she studied with the veteran bop pianist Kenny Barron. From there, at the behest of the jazz educator Nathan Davis, Allen attended the University of Pittsburgh, earning a master's degree in ethnomusicology,^[1] returning to New York in 1982, and began touring with Mary Wilson and the Supremes. In the mid-'80s, Allen became a charter member of both the Black Rock Coalition and the Brooklyn M-Base movement^[1] a collective including saxophonist Steve Coleman, and other significant contributors. Allen played on several of Coleman's albums, including his first, 1985's Motherland Pulse, and Coleman also played on her composition "The Dancer" on the LP, "In The Middle" (released in 1986), which featured veteran tap dancer, Lloyd Story. Allen also composed "The Glide Was In The Ride", performed by The Steve Coleman Group, listed on the New Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz.

Allen's own first album, The Printmakers, with Anthony Cox and Andrew Cyrille, from a year earlier, showcased the pianist's more avant-garde tendencies. In 1988 came Etudes, a cooperative trio effort with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. In 1995, she was the first recipient of Soul Train’s Lady of Soul Award for jazz album of the year for Twenty-One, featuring Tony Williams and Ron Carter, and the first woman, and youngest person to receive the Danish "Jazz Par Prize". Allen continued to push the improvisational envelope with Sound Museum, a 1996 recording made under the leadership of Ornette Coleman. The Gathering followed in 1998. The Life of a Song was recorded with veterans Dave Holland on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Her 2010 album "Flying Toward the Sound" was rated one of the Best Of 2010 on NPR, Downbeat, All About Jazz, and the Village Voice's Jazz Critics' Poll that year.^[2]"Timeless Portraits and Dreams" featured NEA Jazz Masters Jimmy Cobb and Ron Carter, as well as opera icon George Shirley singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing", saxophonist and mentor Donald Walden, vocalist Carmen Lundy, and the Atlanta Jazz Chorus under the direction of composer/multi-reedist Dwight Andrews.

In 2006, Allen was commissioned to compose "For The Healing Of The Nations" a Sacred Jazz Suite for Voices, written in Tribute to the Victims, Survivors and Their Families of the 9/11 Tragedy. The Suite was performed by Howard University's award winning Afro-Blue Jazz Choir, under direction of Connaitre Miller. Oliver Lake, Craig Harris, Andy Bey, Dwight Andrews, Mary Stallings, Carmen Lundy, Nneena Freelon, Jay Hoggard, and other jazz greats also participated. The poetry was contributed by Sandra Turner-Barnes.

Geri Allen took part in a documentary film titled "Live Music, Community & Social Conscience" (2007) while performing at the Frog Island Music Festival in Michigan. A documentary film that looks at how music connects us to our humanity, and to each other regardless of borders, politics, culture economics, or religion. Allen contributed original music to the documentary film Beah: A Black Woman Speaks, director Lisa Gay Hamilton, which received a Peabody Award. Also, Allen contributed orchestrations to Andy Bey's "American Song" which was nominated for a Grammy Award. She was the recipient of a 2008 Guggenheim fellowship.^[3]Allen's composition "Refractions", was released, in response to her Guggenheim Fellowship in Composition, as "Flying Towards The Sound" along with three short art films by film maker/photographer, Carrie Mae Weems, for Motema Music in 2010. "Geri Allen & Timeline Live" her second recording for Motema, featured bassist Kenny Davis, drummer Kassa Overall and tap dancer Maurice Chestnut, and was released simultaneously with "Flying Toward The Sound".

Allen received the "African-American Classical Music Award" from the Women of the New Jersey Chapter of Spelman College, and also received "A Salute To African-American Women: Phenomenal Woman" from the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Epsilon Chapter at the University of Michigan, in 2008. Allen received a nomination in 2011 for the NAACP Image Award for Best Jazz Album, "Geri Allen & Timeline Live". She was also nominated for both The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2011 under the Live Performance Album category^[4], and for "Best Jazz Pianist", by the Jazz Journalists Association.

Ms. Allen performed this year in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monument Unveiling Concert, "A Theatrical & Musical Celebration Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., MLK: A Monumental Life", presented in Constitution Hall, by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Geri Allen currently teaches as Associate Professor of Jazz & Contemporary Improvisation at the School Of Music Theatre & Dance, at the University Of Michigan.^[5]

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

As sidewoman[link]

This section requires expansion.

With Betty Carter

• Droppin' Things (Verve, 1993)
• Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)

With Ornette Coleman

• Sound Museum: Hidden Man (Harmolodic/Verve, 1996)
• Sound Museum: Three Women (Harmolodic/Verve, 1996)

With Steve Coleman

• Motherland Pulse (JMT, 1985)
• And Five Elements: On the Edge of Tomorrow (JMT, 1986)
• And Five Elements: World Expansion (JMT, 1986)
• And Five Elements: Sine Die (Pangaea, 1986) on one track only

With Charlie Haden

• Etudes (Soul Note, 1987)
• The Montreal Tapes: with Geri Allen and Paul Motian (Verve, 1989 [1997])
• The Montreal Tapes: Liberation Music Orchestra (Verve, 1989 [1999])

With Oliver Lake

• Expandable Language (Black Saint, 1984)

With Charles Lloyd

• Lift Every Voice (ECM, 2002)
• Jumping the Creek (ECM, 2004)

With Paul Motian

• Monk in Motian (JMT, 1988)

With Dewey Redman

• Living on the Edge (Black Saint, 1989)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Geri Allen at Motéma Music
• Geri Allen at All About Jazz
• Geri Allen at NPR Music
• Jazz Conversations with Eric Jackson: Geri Allen from WGBH Radio Boston
• Geri Allen at Rhapsody

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Terri Lyne Carrington
Background information
Born	(1965-08-04) August 4, 1965 (age 46)
Origin	Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, R&B
Occupations	Drummer, singer, songwriter, record producer
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Concord Jazz, E1 Entertainment, Video Arts Music, Verve Forecast, ACT, GrooveJazz Media
Website	http://www.terrilynecarrington.com/

Terri Lyne Carrington (born 1965 in Medford, Massachusetts) is a Grammy-Award winning jazz drummer, composer, record producer and entrepreneur. She has played with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and many more. For example, she has toured with each of Hancock's musical configurations (from electric to acoustic) between 1997 and 2007.

In 2007 she was appointed professor at her alma mater, Berklee College of Music, where she received an honorary doctorate in 2003.

Carrington also serves as Artistic Director of the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival.

Childhood[link]

At 7, Carrington was given a set of drums which had belonged to her grandfather, Matt Carrington, who had played with Fats Waller and Chuck Berry. After studying privately for three years, she played her first major performance at the Wichita Jazz Festival with Clark Terry. At age 11 she received a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music. At 12 years old she was profiled on the PBS kids' biography program Rebop.

At Berklee College of Music she played with leading musicians such as Kevin Eubanks, Donald Harrison, Greg Osby and others. She also studied under master drum instructor Alan Dawson and made a private recording entitled, TLC and Friends, with Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, George Coleman and her father, Sonny Carrington, before turning 17.

Throughout high school she traveled across the country doing clinics at various schools and colleges.

Professional career[link]

In 1983, encouraged by her mentor, Jack DeJohnette, Carrington moved to New York, where she worked with Stan Getz, James Moody, Lester Bowie, Pharoah Sanders, Cassandra Wilson, David Sanborn, and others.

In the late 1980s she relocated to Los Angeles, where she gained recognition on late night TV as the house drummer for "The Arsenio Hall Show", then again in the late 1990s as the drummer on the late night TV show "VIBE", hosted by Sinbad. In 1996 she collaborated with Peabo Bryson on "Always Reach For Your Dreams," a song commissioned for the 1996 Olympic Games.

Terri Lyne Carrington and Herbie Hancock

Bandleader[link]

Notably, in recent years, she has included Esperanza Spalding, Geri Allen, Helen Sung, James Genus, Bob Hurst, Patrice Rushen, Tineke Postma, Ingrid Jensen, Nona Hendryx, Chihiro, Everette Harp, Greg Phillinganes, Lori Perry, Robert Irving III, Dwight Sills, Lawrence Fields, Randy Runyon, Gary Thomas, Aruan Ortiz, and Munyungo Jackson in her band configurations. In Summer 2011, she appeared with Wayne Shorter (with John Pattituci and Danilo Perez) in South America, and is the Musical Director of the international "Sing The Truth" Tour ... featuring Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright and Angelique Kidjo (with Romero Lubambo, Geri Allen, James Genus and Munyungo Jackson).^{[citation needed]}

Recording artist[link]

As a recording artist, in 1988 Carrington started concentrating her efforts on writing and producing her own works ... resulting in Real Life Story, her 1989 Grammy-nominated debut CD featuring Carlos Santana, Wayne Shorter, Grover Washington, Jr., Gerald Albright, John Scofield, Hiram Bullock, Patrice Rushen, Greg Osby, and Dianne Reeves, Jazz is a Spirit, her 2002 European CD featuring Herbie Hancock, Wallace Roney, Terence Blanchard, Kevin Eubanks and Gary Thomas, and Structure, her 2004 European CD with Jimmy Haslip, Greg Osby and Adam Rogers. Also, after a 20 year hiatus from U.S. recording, Carrington released the 2009 CD More to Say ... Real Life Story: NextGen, a sequel to her 1989 debut "Real Life Story" CD. The album features Nancy Wilson, Les McCann, George Duke, Kirk Whalum, Everette Harp, Christian McBride, Jimmy Haslip, Greg Phillinganes, Robert Irving III, Patrice Rushen, Chuck Loeb, Walter Beasley, Anthony Wilson, Lawrence Fields, Ray Fuller, Dwight Sills, Lori Perry and Chris Walker, with a special appearance by Sonny Carrington.^[1] Most of the 15 tracks on the CD are written or co-written by Carrington. In 2011 The Mosaic Project, her fifth album overall and her first on Concord Jazz, which featured a number of singers, was released in 2011. It won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.^[2]

Entrepreneur[link]

As an entrepreneur, Carrington is a partner in Hebert-Carrington Media (HCM). Founded in 2007 and based in Atlanta, Boston, New Jersey, Washington, DC, Chicago, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, HCM's^[3] origins can be traced to the long-term relationships with company co-founder Robert A. Hebert, Esq., high-tech entrepreneurs Frank White, Jr. and Dr. Bernard Yaged, and top media and communications advisor Don Lucoff of DL Media. HCM has relationships with Concord Music, E1 Entertainment, Pony Canyon (Japan), Video Arts Music (Japan), Herbie Hancock, Toninho Horta, Oscar Castro-Neves, Arthur Maia, Romero Lubambo, Robert Irving III, Mitchel Forman, Helen Sung, Darryl Jones, and Vince Wilburn/Miles Davis Properties.

Partial discography[link]

• Real Life Story (1989)
• Jazz is a Spirit (2002)
• Structure (2004)
• More to Say (2009)
• The Mosaic Project (2011)

As drummer

• Herbie Hancock : Gershwin's World
• Rufus Reid : Seven Minds
• Mulgrew Miller : Work, Chapters 1 & 2: Keys to the City
• Michele Rosewoman : Quintessense
• Dianne Reeves : I Remember, Art & Survival, Quiet After The Storm, That Day
• Niels Lans Doky : Daybreak
• Doky Brothers : Doky Brothers, Vol 1 & 2
• John Scofield : Flat Out, Liquid Fire
• Cassandra Wilson : Blue Skies
• Rachel Z : Room Of One's Own
• Wayne Shorter : Joy Ryder, High Life
• Patrice Rushen : Anything But Ordinary
• John Patitucci : Sketchbook
• Eric Marienthal : Crossroads
• John Beasley : Change of Heart
• Nino Tempo : Live At Cicada
• Michael Wolff : 2 AM
• James Moody : Moody's Birthday Celebration, Live At The Blue Note, Moody Plays Mancini
• Esperanza Spalding : Radio Music Society

References[link]

External links[link]

• Terri Lyne Carrington website

Esperanza Spalding
Spalding performing at the Newport Jazz Festival on August 10, 2008
Background information
Born	(1984-10-18) October 18, 1984 (age 27) Portland, Oregon, US
Genres	Jazz, jazz fusion, bossa nova, neo soul
Occupations	Musician, composer, educator, bandleader
Instruments	Upright bass, bass guitar, and vocals
Years active	2000–present[1]
Labels	Heads Up International, Hush, Merge
Associated acts	Stanley Clarke, Patti Austin, and Joe Lovano
Website	www.esperanzaspalding.com

Esperanza Spalding (born October 18, 1984)^[2] is an American multi-instrumentalist best known as a jazz bassist and singer, who draws upon many genres in her own compositions. In 2011, she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 53rd Grammy Awards,^[3] making her the first jazz artist to win the award.^[4][5]

Biography[link]

Early life and early education[link]

Spalding grew up in the King neighborhood of Portland, Oregon,^[6] a neighborhood she describes as "ghetto" and "pretty scary".^[7] Her mother raised her and her brother as a single parent.^[8] Spalding has a diverse ethnic background.^[7][9] Her father is African-American and her mother is of Welsh, Native American, and Hispanic descent.^[10] She also has an interest in the music of other cultures, including that of Brazil,^[11] commenting, "With Portuguese songs, the phrasing of the melody is intrinsically linked with the language, and it's beautiful."^[12]

Her mother shares Spalding's interest in music, having nearly become a touring singer herself.^[8][13] But while Spalding cites her mother as a powerful influence who encouraged her musical expansion, she attributes her inspiration for pursuing a life in music to watching classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform on an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood when she was four.^[8]

By the time Spalding was five, she had taught herself to play the violin and was playing with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon.^[8] Spalding stayed with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon until she was fifteen and left as concertmaster.^[8] Due to a lengthy illness when she was child, Spalding spent much of her elementary school years being homeschooled,^[8] but also attended King Elementary School in northeast Portland.^[6] During this time, she also found the opportunity to pick up instruction in music by listening to her mother's college teacher instruct her mother in guitar.^[12] According to Spalding, when she was about eight, her mother briefly studied jazz guitar in college; Spalding says, "Going with her to her class, I would sit under the piano. Then I would come home and I would be playing her stuff that her teacher had been playing."^[12] Spalding also played oboe and clarinet before discovering the bass in high school.^[8][14] She is able to sing in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.^[15]

Spalding had begun performing live in clubs in Portland, Oregon as a teenager,^[11] securing her first gig at 15 in a blues club, when she could play only one line on bass.^[16] One of the seasoned musicians with which she played that first night invited her to join the band's rehearsals "so she could actually learn something", and her rehearsals soon grew into regular performances spanning almost a year.^[16] According to Spalding, it was a chance for her to stretch as a musician, reaching and growing beyond her experience.^[12] Her early contact with these "phenomenal resources", as she calls the musicians who played with her,^[12] fostered her sense of rhythm and helped nurture her interest in her instrument.^[16] She does not consider herself a musical prodigy.^[17] "I am surrounded by prodigies everywhere I go, but because they are a little older than me, or not a female, or not on a major label, they are not acknowledged as such", says Spalding.^[17]

Spalding had intended to play cello,^[12] but discovered the bass during a one-year stint at age 14 at the prestigious performing arts high school, The Northwest Academy, to which she had won a scholarship.^[16][18] The school was not a good fit, but the bass was.^[16] Spalding found high school "easy—and boring" and dropped out. When she was 15 or 16 years old, Spalding started writing lyrics for music for the local indie rock/pop group Noise for Pretend, touching on any topic that came to mind.^[17] Although she had taken a few private voice lessons, which taught her how to protect her voice, her primary singing experience had come from "singing in the shower", she said,^[17] before she started performing vocals for Noise for Pretend.^[12] Her desire to perform live evolved naturally out of the compositional process, when she would sing and play simultaneously to see how melody and voice fit together, but she acknowledges that performing both roles can be challenging.^[12][19] In a 2008 interview, she said, "[W]hat can be difficult is being a singer, in the sense that you are engaged with the audience, and really responsible for emoting, and getting into the lyrics, melody, etc., and being an effective bassist/band leader".^[19]

Spalding left high school at 16 and, after completing her GED, enrolled on a music scholarship in the music program at Portland State University, where she remembers being "the youngest bass player in the program".^[8] Although she lacked the training of her fellow students, she feels that her teachers nevertheless recognized her talent.^[8] She decided to instead apply to Berklee College of Music on the encouragement of her bass teacher, and did well enough in her audition to receive a full scholarship.^[13][16] In spite of the scholarship, Spalding found it a challenge meeting living expenses, so her friends arranged a benefit concert that paid her airfare and a little extra.^[12][16] Spalding's savings did not last long. Broke and exhausted,^[20] she considered leaving music and entering political science,^[13] a move jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny discouraged, telling Spalding she had "the 'X Factor'" and could make it if she applied herself.^[13] During her time at Berklee, her primary bass instructor was John Lockwood.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 2004–07: Musical beginnings, teaching and Junjo

Spalding performing at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy on July 12, 2007

Gary Burton, Executive Vice President at Berklee, said in 2004 that Spalding had "a great time feel, she can confidently read the most complicated compositions, and she communicates her upbeat personality in everything she plays".^[16] Ben Ratliff wrote in The New York Times on July 9, 2006, that Spalding's voice is "light and high, up in Blossom Dearie's pitch range, and [that] she can sing quietly, almost in a daydream" and that Spalding "invents her own feminine space, a different sound from top to bottom."^[21] Spalding was the 2005 recipient of the Boston Jazz Society scholarship for outstanding musicianship.^[8] Almost immediately after graduation from college later the same year, Spalding was hired by Berklee College of Music, becoming one of the youngest instructors in the institution's history,^[12] at age 20.^[22] As a teacher, Spalding tries to help her students focus their practice through a practice journal, which can help them recognize their strengths and what they need to pursue.^[12]

Her debut album Junjo was released on April 18, 2006, on the Ayva Music label.^[23][24] It was created to display the dynamic that she felt among her trio.^[17] Though Junjo was released solely under her name, Spalding considers it "a collaborative effort".^[12]

[edit] 2008–10: Esperanza

Spalding performing on December 10, 2009 at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert of 2009

When asked in 2008 why she plays the bass instead of some other instrument, Spalding said that it wasn't a choice, but the bass "had its own arc" and resonated with her.^[17] Spalding says that for her discovering the bass was like "waking up one day and realizing you're in love with a co-worker."^[12] By the time she randomly picked up the bass in music class and began experimenting with it, she had grown bored with her other instruments.^[16][25] Her band teacher showed her a blues line for the bass that she later used to secure her first gig.^[16] After that, she went in to play the bass daily and gradually fell in love.^[12]

Ratliff wrote in The New York Times again, two years later, on May 26, 2008 that one of Spalding's central gifts is "a light, fizzy, optimistic drive that's in her melodic bass playing and her elastic, small-voiced singing" but that "the music is missing a crucial measure of modesty."^[26] He added, "It's an attempt at bringing this crisscrossing [of Stevie Wonder and Wayne Shorter] to a new level of definition and power, but its vamps and grooves are a little obvious, and it pushes her first as a singer-songwriter, which isn't her primary strength."^[26] Pat Metheny said in 2008 it was immediately obvious "that she had a lot to say and was also unlike any musician I had ever run across before. Her unique quality is something that goes beyond her pretty amazing musical skills; She has that rare 'x' factor of being able to transmit a certain personal kind of vision and energy that is all her own."^[20] Andrés Quinteros wrote in the Argentinian periodical, 26Noticias on October 28, 2008 that Spalding is one of the greatest new talents on the jazz scene today.^[27] Patti Austin hired Spalding to tour with her internationally after Spalding's first semester at Berklee,^[16] where Spalding supported the singer on the Ella Fitzgerald tribute tour "For Ella".^[12] In 2008, Spalding recalled the tour as educational, helping her learn to accompany a vocalist and also how to sustain energy and interest playing the same material nightly.^[12] She continued to perform with Austin periodically for three years.^[12] During the same period, while at Berklee, Spalding studied under saxophonist Joe Lovano before eventually touring with him.^[12] They began as a trio, expanding into a quartet before joining quintet US5 and traveling across the United States from New York to California.^[12] As of 2008, she was also in the process of developing several courses for students at Berklee, including one that focuses "on transcribing as a tool for learning harmony and theory."^[12] Due to touring commitments, Spalding stopped giving classes at Berklee. She lives in New York and Austin, Texas.

Spalding performing at the Northsea Jazz Festival, 2009

Esperanza is Spalding's second studio album. Being exposed to many different cultural impressions while growing up, Spalding sings in three different languages, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.^[28] After Spalding's Grammy win in February 2011, the album entered the Billboard 200 at 138. With Esperanza, Spalding's material was meant to be more reflective of herself as an artist, with musicians selected to best present that material.^[17] Ed Morales wrote in PopMatters on June 23, 2008 that Esperanza is "a sprawling collage of jazz fusion, Brazilian and even a touch of hip-hop".^[29] Siddhartha Mitter wrote in The Boston Globe on May 23, 2008 that "the big change" in Esperanza "is the singing..... This makes it a much more accessible album, and in some ways more conventional".^[30]

On December 10, at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies, Spalding performed at Oslo City Hall in honor of the 2009 Laureate President Barack Obama and again at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert the following day. She was personally selected by Obama, as per the tradition of one laureate-invited-artist to perform.^[31] Spalding also was the featured final act for the opening night of the 2009 Park City Jazz Festival in Park City, Utah, one of the top jazz festivals in the country. She closed the show with a number along with bass artists Brian Bromberg and Sean O'Bryan Smith, who also performed earlier that day.^[32] As a tribute to Prince, Spalding was invited to sing along with Patti LaBelle, Alicia Keys, and Janelle Monáe. Spalding performed the 1987 hit single "If I Was Your Girlfriend".^[31][33] On February 7, 2010, Spalding became the most searched person and second most searched item on Google as a result of her appearance the previous evening on the PBS television program Austin City Limits.^[34][35]

[edit] 2011–present: Chamber Music Society and Radio Music Society

In February 2011, at the 53rd Grammy Awards, Spalding won the "Best New Artist" award.^[36] In November 2011, Spalding won "Jazz Artist of the Year" at the Boston Music Awards.^[37] Spalding collaborated with Tineke Postma on the track "Leave Me A Place Underground" from the album The Dawn Of Light in 2011.^[38] She also collaborated with Terri Lyne Carrington on the album The Mosaic Project where she features on the track "Crayola".^[39] Spalding sings a duet with Nicholas Payton on the track "Freesia" from the album Bitches in 2011.^{[40] [41]} Her next project was an album titled Radio Music Society, which she hoped would showcase jazz musicians in an accessible manner suitable for mainstream radio.^[36] With Radio Music Society, she hoped to incorporate her own musical compositions with covers of such artists as the Beach Boys and Wayne Shorter. She also plans to record an album with Milton Nascimento in the future.^[42]

Chamber Music Society was the third album by Spalding. After her surprise Grammy win, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 34 with sales of 18,000.^[43] A video was made for the song "Little Fly".^[44] The song is a poem by William Blake set to music by Spalding. A vinyl version of the album was released in February 2011. This version of the album included a bonus track titled "Morning" that will be included in the tracklist of her upcoming Radio Music Society album.^[45] Chamber Music Society, inspiration from her earlier days as a concertmaster is apparent in her fusion of three-piece string ensemble with piano, keyboards, drums and percussion. As Patrick Jarenwattananon wrote for NPR Music, "the finished product certainly exudes a level of sophisticated intimacy, as if best experienced with a small gathering in a quiet, wood-paneled room."^[46] Spalding was the best-selling contemporary jazz artist, and her album Chamber Music Society was the best-selling contemporary jazz album, of 2011.^[47]

On February 26, 2012, Spalding performed at the 84th Academy Awards, singing the Louis Armstrong standard, "What a Wonderful World", alongside the Southern California Children's Chorus to accompany the video montage that celebrated the film industry greats who passed away in 2011 and early 2012.^[48] Radio Music Society is Spalding's fourth studio album, released by record label Heads Up International on March 20, 2012.^[49][50][51] Spalding appeared on Later... with Jools Holland.^[52]

Artistry[link]

Influences and attitude toward music and jazz[link]

Spalding alternates between upright bass...		and bass guitar in her performances

Spalding cites jazz bassists Ron Carter and Dave Holland as important influences on her music; Carter for the "orchestration" of his playing and Holland for the way his compositional method complements his personal style.^[53] She has described the saxophone player Wayne Shorter,^[13] and singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento, as heroes.^[54] She has also noted her preference for the music of Brazil.^[13]

Spalding says she loves fusion music and was influenced by a "wonderful arc that started 40 years ago where people kept incorporating modern sounds into their music."^[29] She has expressed concerns that jazz has wandered from its roots, suggesting that jazz has lost its street value and its relevance to "the Black experience to the Black Diaspora and beyond" now that has been co-opted by the "seasoned 'art' community".^[7] She notes that in its early days, jazz was "popular dance music" and "the music of young people who considered themselves awfully hip", and believes "hip-hop, or neo-soul [...] is our 'jazz' now as far as the role these genres play in the music genre lineage".^[7] Spalding, who has expressed a desire to be judged for her musicianship rather than her sex appeal, believes that female musicians must take responsibility to avoid oversexualizing themselves.^[29][13] and that in order to write original music, one must read and stay informed about the world.^[13] She has said she models her career on those of Madonna and Ornette Coleman.^[12]

Discography[link]

Solo albums[link]

Music videos[link]

Collaborative albums[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Murphy, Sarah, "Student Profile: Esperanza Spalding", Berklee College of Music, April 2004
• Colapinto, John (March 15, 2010). "Profiles: New Note". The New Yorker 86 (4): 32–39. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Esperanza Spalding

• Official website
• Esperanza Spalding interview for OnTheGig.com
• Interview for allaboutjazz.com
• Who is Esperanza Spalding and how did she beat Justin Bieber? interview for Billboard.com
• VIDEO: Performance and interview at The Roots Picnic (2011)