Chords for Esperanza Spalding - BEST NEW ARTIST 2011 (Interview)

This is Esperanza Spalding on Billboard [C].com. _ _
[Db] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ [Db] _ _ _ [C] _
How can I [E] concisely and quickly do a recap of where [Ab] I've been and [C] how I've come this far?
[E] Well, I guess if you want to go all the way back, I [Dbm] started playing music when I was five,
[E] after seeing a yo ma [Abm] perform on a [Eb] public television [Abm] show, Mr.
[Ab] Rogers' Neighborhood.
I started playing [Abm] violin for [Eb] 10 years and got a really [Dbm] good, you know,
musical foundation [C] education that way.
And then when [E] I was 15, I discovered the [Dbm] bass.
_ _ [C] _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
[Db] Through that instrument, I really discovered improvised music, started [Abm] exploring jazz.
[Dbm] Then I moved to Boston, went to Berkeley, [Bm] started really [Em] exploring my own sound,
writing a lot more.
That's when I started singing and [C] playing.
_ [D] And [E] more and more people started to come to the shows.
Word [Dbm] got [Ab] around, made a few records.
Had some [E] really _ auspicious sort of mentors, Patty Austin, and getting to work with Prince,
[Bb] and collaborating even with Stevie Wonder.
[Abm] It's really a blessing [G] that I play an instrument and
a kind of music that is so [Dbm] open, and it's such a live, [E] living art form.
[Ab] Because for me,
[A] I can pick up my bass and [Gb] jam and start [E] making music right away with people that I've never
worked [Dbm] with before.
Someone like [C] Prince. _
[E] We started playing together in a [Dbm] jam session
[Am] situation.
The first time I played with him, I went to Las [E] Vegas to jam at his after-party concert.
_ [Dbm] And we hit it off [D] musically first, right away.
[E] We were making this music, improvising.
It was
very spontaneous.
And [Dbm] we kept jamming.
He's such [Am] a phenomenal musician, [D] and surrounds himself with
the most phenomenal [Em] musicians.
So we just had fun playing, jamming, [B] playing some standards,
playing some of his tunes, some of my tunes.
[G] Afterwards, we started talking and [Abm] became
friends.
[E] _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] _ Stevie [Abm] Wonder apparently hosts a radio show.
[Dbm] One of my songs came up, [Ab] and he liked it.
[E] So he invited me to perform at a [A] benefit concert he [G] has every year.
[Bb] He learned the song,
[E]
and he was playing it and singing it at the piano, and we were singing it together.
And of course,
now I can never sing that song again, _ because [Abm] he did everything and more that anyone could ever
hope to do [Db] to that song.
So there it lies.
But _ because of that collaboration, he invited [E] me
to the White House.
_ Let me be [Eb] patient.
_ _ [B] _ Let [Ab] me be [Dbm] kind.
_ Make [Eb] me _ unselfish _ without [E] being blind.
I can honestly say I [B] certainly did not expect to be [Db] nominated in the Best New Artist category.
You know, I was leaving my house in the village, and I'm [E] going down the stairs, running late,
and I get this text, congratulations on the Grammy nomination.
And I have a new phone,
so I had no [Ab] idea who it was.
[A] I just thought like, oh, I [Gb] probably got, [Em] you know, best [B] _ vocalizing
arrangement in an adult contemporary [E] non-instrumental _ Hawaiian polka field or something,
because it gets really nitty [A] gritty down there.
[E] And the next morning, I got another text,
[Am] started getting many texts, [Ebm] best new artist, best new artist, [E] congratulations.
And I went like, _ _
I was very [Ebm] surprised, very, very [A] surprised.
Coming from the jazz [Db] world, it's already enough
to me just to be nominated in that realm of sort of [Eb] mainstream entertainment.
[E] I feel really
flattered and inspired to _ [Abm] live up to that, to [E] that acknowledgement.
_ _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ [Gb] _ _ _ [Em]
Well, I really like Florence and the Machine.
[A] I really like that music.
And I saw, [Gb] I didn't
know the music of Drake, but I had read an article about him in the New York Times,
and I saw him perform at the BET Awards.
And I know in Justin Bieber's case, [C] he has sort of a
similar story [A] to mine, coming [C] from [Db] a single parent [Abm] family, low income, sort of having this
[B]
stellar ascension and making his [Gb] success through music.
[Db] So I can [C] really relate to that.
And I
imagine [B] for him being so young, all this must be really, really intense.
And [Em] yeah, admire the hard
work all those guys are doing.
_ [Abm] Whatever you think about the music, it's like, it's no joke.
You know,
it's not easy to get up and work as hard as they do.
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Dm] _ _ [G] _ _ [A] _ [G] _ _
_ [B] _ _ _ [A] _ [B] Throughout the rest of [Am] 2011, we have
[E] two major US tours and some [Bb] European tours.
[A] And this spring, I'm working on the next record,
Radio Music Society with Q-tip.
Lots of collaborations, I'm sure over the year.
_ [D] And just really exploring Chamber [B] Music Society, which is the current project.
[D] We're showcasing
that a lot more [Dm] in the US.
I think you can get it [A] in stores anywhere.
You can get on [G] Amazon,
you can get on iTunes. _
[D] _ I'm really proud of this record.
[Bb] I feel [Gbm] like it's a really [C] complete piece
of work.
I'm really proud of the collaborators.
I'm proud of all the musicians.
[Dbm] I'm proud of,
[C] I'm just proud of it.
It's my baby.
The [Fm] concept of it is _ exploring a space where chamber jazz
and chamber classical music intersect. _
_ And I think it's captivating.
You don't have to be a jazz [Ab] or
classical head to get [G] into it.
So I hope you'll check it out. _
_ _ [Em] _ [Db] _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ [G] _ _ [Fm] _ _ [Gm] _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ [Fm] _ _ _ _ _