Esperanza wins!

                                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2JRGv91urY

The Grammy Awards kept me up too late last night. The commercials were long and lame. The musical acts were entertaining, some were even inspired. It was refreshing to see so many live instrumentalists on the big Grammy stage. Backing Bob Dylan, I believe I counted 3 double-bass players, 1 cellist, umpteen guitarists, 2 banjos... A band like The Avett Brothers getting the spotlight... Far out! I am a big fan of real music. That is to say, music performed by humans playing instruments with acoustic qualities.

So it should come as no surprise that I was thrilled to witness Miss Esperanza Spalding win Best New Artist. Not only is she a talented young musician and vocalist, she is a fellow brown girl. I'm sure some critic somewhere has already compared her in a superficial way to Alicia Keys, who is also a talented young musician, vocalist, and brown girl. But Esperanza is thriving in the jazz world. Bringing jazz to a young audience, impressing the old guard with her chops, and accompanying many established artists in a variety of genres. Her mere existence on the scene is exciting. Her success is thrilling.

Go Brown Girl, Go!