Esperanza Spalding Quotes

What I'm identifying with is the vision or the idea - whatever was the little nugget that started it.

It's a pity if someone who has a really profoundly potent art to share chooses not to or doesn't fit into this very thin slice of what's desirable and marketable, chances are the public will never get a chance to hear what they're doing.

It's weird sometimes to have people not see me or see what I do.

You don't have to be fearless to do anything, you can be scared out of your mind.

Whoever you are, if you know what you're doing, you don't want other people to overtake the merit of your art.

Jazz has always been a melting pot of influences and I plan to incorporate them all.

The benefit of the radio is, something beyond your realm of knowledge can surprise you, can enter your realm of knowledge.

Up-and-coming musicians can easily reach out and find a loving teacher, and that's definitely what happened to me.

I did grow up in a rough neighborhood in Portland, which is an abstract concept for anybody who's rolled through Portland because now it looks like a TV set, literally.

I just think music is so intrinsically linked with images in the culture that we live in that youll be hard-pressed to have an experience with the music without a preconceived notion.

The music that I make is pretty sincere; it's from my heart and I love it, and what just happened is more people have started to connect with my heart, and I haven't followed some kind of marketing scheme.

When I read, you know, a rough neighborhood of Portland, I'm like - what? - they didn't have kombucha bars there?

There's the juiciest music that makes me so happy, music that I need on that deserted island when I'm stranded for the rest of my life, and nobody cares that it's there.

For what I can imagine and feel and think and hear, I can hardly do anything on the acoustic bass. It used to be just pure frustration of imagining so much more and being able to get to a certain level of execution.

People are more used to seeing men who are masters at an instrument than women.

I am insubordinate by nature. I can't help it.

I’m not gonna sit around and waste my precious divine energy trying to explain and be ashamed of things you think are wrong with me.

I love people, and I love to be with people and to make music with people, but my natural state is to revert back to being by myself in my house, which is cool because thats where I practice and write and listen and study.

Jazz music just resonates with the frequency of me.

People are more used to seeing men who are masters at an instrument than women. When people say, 'Oh, she plays like a dude,' it's usually dudes who are the ones saying it. They're saying, 'Oh, she's as good as us.' Of course, that's a stupid statement. It's totally stereotypical to say, 'We have an advantage on this, and if anyone else can do it well, it's only because they're like us.' I think more men are starting to learn that this attitude is totally hollow and based in imagination. As more women are involved in music, this kind of thing gets said less and less.

There is an assumption that if you're young and pretty, you will get all these opportunities that are way beyond your musical foundation.

I fear that I won't get better and that I won't have time to practice. To be called a "jazz musician" - it's a big responsibility.

You can grow up with literally nothing and you don’t suffer if you know you’re loved and valued.

My name means 'hope' in Spanish and it's a name I want to live up to.

When people say, "Oh, she plays like a dude," it's usually dudes who are the ones saying it. They're saying, "Oh, she's as good as us." Of course, that's a stupid statement.