Latest Esperanza Spalding Quotes from Interviews

• 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.

• 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

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

  Esperanza Spalding

  Men, People, Used

• There is an assumption that if you're young and pretty, you will get all these opportunities that are way beyond your musical foundation.

  Esperanza Spalding

  Opportunity, Musical, Foundation

• 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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.