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She plays the instruments as she sings. I wish her first cd was a steal like this one. The CD is well worth the money. She is very great. BUY IT. She is a very talented artist and it is shown in this cd. I got to see her in concert and she sounds exactly the same as she does on the album so you know that there has been no work done on the cd.
This album stayed on repeat for weeks and still gets played when I'm looking to be inspired by new music. It's part world jazz, part straight ahead, part pop jazz, pop youthful exuberant jazz, part masterpiece. Trust. If you're a jazz head (or not) and you're looking for the next wave of classic recordings and talent in that idiom, get this record and rejoice. Esperanza Spalding's voice is awesome, her playing is solid, the songs are intriguing and her accompaniment is very capable.
Buy it and you too may fall in love, but I saw her first. The album is a rare treat from start to finish. I heard this artist on a local jazz station and had to find out who she was. Bought the album and then saw her in person here in NYC and I am falling deeper in love with her every day.
There's a wonderful feel to every song, and often you can pick up her bass as much as her vocals, and that's even when pianist Leo Genovese is shining like he does for most of this CD. If you're a jazz fan, get this CD and make sure you see her live. They're just all so good. In fact, her vocals are very prominent on "I Know You Know", and that's not among my favorites on this CD, although it's hard to say any songs really stand out. I can't put it any simpler.Having seen Esperanza live several times, I had some very high expectations for this CD. They were certainly met, and I'll be listening to this CD quite a bit.Admittedly, I don't have the easiest time catching the vocals in most songs, but that's fine by me because the tunes on here are wonderful.
I loved the instrumental tracks equally as much as those with vocals because it's a new experience for me listening to music with this instrument at the forefront. Esperanza's voice is very pleasant and she doesn't oversell or overtax her vocals which works perfectly with her songs. (It was also something to see such a slight female handling such a large unexpected instrument on the Letterman show so that piqued my interest in her music).The standout tracks I keep pressing repeat on are: PONTA DE AREIA, FALL IN, I ADORE YOU, SAMBA EM PRELUDIO, ESPERA, PRECIOUS, MELA & IF THAT'S TRUE. I had so much fun listening to this disc. I've had it in heavy rotation since June and each time I listen, I hear some nuance that I missed the previous time.
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