Emily’s D+Evolution

Four-time Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding expands her sound to not only encompass jazz, with which she is most familiar, but also such disparate genres as funk and prog. Breaking down the title of the album provides an insight into just what’s going on here: “Emily” is Spalding’s middle name, as well as the name she was often referred to as a child. According to Spalding, it is used here as a means of “exploring…ways of performing and means of expression that I was curious about as a kid,” including acting and dance. “D+Evolution” means “hardly earning a passing grade, but still managing to morph and change.” In Spalding’s own words:

What do you do when you don’t really have all the tools that you need, but you have to survive? And you need to grow and expand? I think that the best answer…is, you get creative with the tools that you’ve got. I’m excited by that skill and the fruits of that intention — of that decision.