Esperanza Spalding

Smithsonian Museum

National Portrait Gallery

Description

Born Portland, Oregon

Jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding electrified the Grammy Awards in 2011 by winning honors as Best New Artist. She was inspired as a child by Yo-Yo Ma and played several different stringed instruments before settling on the bass when she was in high school. She released her first album, Junjo, in 2006. Her fourth release, Radio Music Society, received high critical marks at its release in March 2012. Spalding’s musical roots reflect her cultural diversity—her father is African American; her mother Welsh, Native American, and Hispanic—and she sings in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Sandrine Lee’s photograph shows the musician in an old railroad station in Connecticut. Spalding has emphasized in interviews that music does not only happen in recording studios and concert halls, but also in more intimate, everyday spaces, as captured here.

Artist

Sandrine Lee, born 1972

Sitter

Esperanza Spalding, born 1984

Date

2010 (printed 2012)

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Sandrine Lee

Medium

Digitally exposed chromogenic print

Dimensions

Image: 40.5 x 61 cm (15 15/16 x 24")

Sheet: 50.7 x 71.2 cm (19 15/16 x 28 1/16")

Type

Photograph