Gig Review: Esperanza Spalding Provided The Musical Balm We All Need

Remember when there used to be gig reviews? I do. I used to write them, before the newspaper stopped caring about such things. I’m bringing them back!

Wellington Jazz Festival: Esperanza Spalding

The Opera House, Wellington

Sunday, October 20

Esperanza Spalding is an American bassist, vocalist, and composer — her work is deeply rooted in jazz, but exploratory also, moving across genres with its GPS set on finding the heart, the soul, and engaging the full body and mind. It was a treat to see and hear her in New Zealand for the first time — and a shoutout to the Wellington Jazz Festival organisers for bringing so many first-time visitors, the international headliners all vowing to be back as soon as they can after finally making their New Zealand debuts.

It was the perfect, soulful close to the festival to see Spalding, so in command of her band, and muse. She started the show alone at the piano with a “spooky” song to shake the demons loose. What was immediately clear was her kindness and care, her deep connection to music and audience, an understanding of the connection that is needed between those two elements, her role as the conduit.

Joined by Matt Stevens (guitar) and Eric Doob (drums), Spalding took to her upright bass for a range of songs from across her catalogue, though the focus was clearly on 2018’s 12 Little Spells, with her often referring to “spell songs” as she engaged body and mind throughout. And to assist in this, in the most utterly mesmerising way, Kaylin Horgan and Tashae Udo. We meet them first as backing vocalists, but in their first sashay to the centre of the stage it is very clear they are there for entirely a different purpose.

Both from New York-based AntonioBrownDance, Horgan and Udo use street ballet, free movement and classically trained dance to translate much of the music into stories for the body. The 12 Little Spells album features songs written specifically for body parts, Spalding points out that the title track is likely the first time anyone has had a tune sung to their thoracic spine. Helping to put this concept across is the fleet-footed poetry of Horgan and Udo. They are utterly mesmerising, but never take away from the music, only ever adding to it, so perfectly poised and integrated is their journey within each song.

Of course the band is phenomenal, and when Stevens is given the chance to cook, he gets all of the elements lit and stirs in aspects of John Scofield, Marc Ribot, and Mike Stern. Similarly, Doob plays the drums with not only his hands and feet, but his heart, soul, and mind. He builds a solo from a whisper to a scream, without ever descending into the cliche of clattering that might suggest a person laden with boxes taking a tumble down some stairs.

Front and centre always is Spalding. She is dynamic in her twin roles as the evening’s bassist and singer, the music flowing through her entirely. She adds greasy funk (Thang), combines history and politics toward hope (Black Gold) and through balladry she reminded us all to stay physically connected (Touch in Mine).

So much of the music was about movement, and the physical manifestation of that was enabled through the nearly show-stealing dancers. They provided a visual for anyone possibly lost by jazz as a concept; it can feel ‘heady’ going into a Jazz Festival concert space, but Spalding managed to give us the most high concept show with the most accessible point of entry. We were there with her throughout.

As they stood to take a bow and Spalding attempted to introduce her phenomenal group, the entire audience was up and offering rapturous applause. A breath. And then the introductions, and the sadness that they’d come all that way and the set had whipped by so quickly. In fact it was nearly two hours all up, but just as it was driven by heartbeats, it felt like it breezed by in a single one. That’s how connected we all were, audience, musicians, dancers. That’s how powerful music can be. This was life-affirming, uplifting, spiritually awakening and cleansing. This was a musical performance so profound, and yet made so accessible. This was a spellbinding, utterly beautiful evening of art.