Esperanza Spalding Quotes

• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Being Yourself, Thinking, Being Real

  Song: Precious, Album: Esperanza, 2008

  63 Copy quote

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Fearless, Mind, Scared

  Twitter post from Mar 09, 2016

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• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Heart, People, Marketing

  "Esperanza Spalding: Grammy Award 2011 Winner For Best New Artist", www.huffingtonpost.com. February 14, 2011.

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• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Attitude, Stupid, Men

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Growing Up, Suffering, Grows

  "New Note" by John Colapinto, www.newyorker.com. March 15, 2010.

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Melting, Jazz, Influence

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Mean, Names, Want

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Art, People, Doing You

  "Esperanza Spalding: Insubordinate by Nature". Interview with Alex Frank, pitchfork.com. March 8, 2016.

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• Jazz music just resonates with the frequency of me.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Music, Jazz, Jazz Music

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Men, People, Used

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Helping, I Can

  "Esperanza Spalding: Insubordinate by Nature". Interview with Alex Frank, pitchfork.com. March 8, 2016.

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• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Writing, Practice, People

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• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Stupid, Play, People

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• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Responsibility, Practice, Get Better

  "Esperanza Spalding: Insubordinate by Nature". Interview with Alex Frank, pitchfork.com. March 8, 2016.

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• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Thinking, Culture, Music Is

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Ideas, Vision, Nuggets

  "Esperanza Spalding: Insubordinate by Nature". Interview with Alex Frank, pitchfork.com. March 8, 2016.

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Benefits, Radio, Surprise

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Teacher, Musician, Reach Out

  "Not My Job: Jazz Bassist Esperanza Spalding Gets Quizzed On Bases". "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" with Peter Sagal, kccu.org. March 26, 2016.

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• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Art, Chance, Fit

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• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Islands, Needs, Care

  "Esperanza Spalding: Insubordinate by Nature". Interview with Alex Frank, pitchfork.com. March 8, 2016.

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  People, Sometimes

  "Esperanza Spalding: Insubordinate by Nature". Interview with Alex Frank, pitchfork.com. March 8, 2016.

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• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Frustration, Thinking, Levels

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Portland, Bars, Neighborhood

  "Not My Job: Jazz Bassist Esperanza Spalding Gets Quizzed On Bases". "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" with Peter Sagal, www.npr.org. March 26, 2016.

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• The Czech ease has become my saving grace for traveling! Plus,with its light weight and small size, I save thousands of dollars every year in airline fees.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Light, Years, Grace

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• 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.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Growing Up, Portland, Looks

  "Not My Job: Jazz Bassist Esperanza Spalding Gets Quizzed On Bases". "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" with Peter Sagal, www.npr.org. March 26, 2016.

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