Esperanza Spalding

“I grew up with an incredibly loving and supportive family that gave me the impression there were a lot of options for me out there.”

“I don't think it's about playing and singing, to be honest. That seems like old news, you know? I wasn't thinking about that. I just think that's in my body now. Dancers don't think about their legs moving one way and their arms moving another. Over time, you incorporate that into your instrument.”

“I'm realizing now that I was always really curious about inviting people into a space and sharing information that way. But I didn't have any context for it. It was just fun because I was homeschooled and lonely and bored, and I'd do things to get people to come over.”

“When something in art or music piques my interest, I tend to go check it out, and most things I check out, I'm not very good at. But a few things I've gone to check out have given me back as much love as I gave them, usually much more.”

“On nights that I'm feeling a need to stretch personally and artistically, I tend to put together outfits that are very quirky, mismatched and over-the-top eclectic.”

“You can grow up with literally nothing and you don't suffer if you know you're loved and valued.”

“If you're a writer, and you write fiction, that's not all you read.”

“You don't have to be fearless to do anything; you can be scared out of your mind. 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.”

“There's a guy I used to pay to work with me who'd call me 'kiddo.' I said, 'There's nothing that justifies you expressing that to me, your boss.'”

“There's nothing wrong with struggle. Anytime I look back at a difficult phase of my life and see what grew out of it - the creative survival tactics - I think that the good is way better than the bad.”

“I think there's so much negative influence on children in school settings. It becomes learning by rote to pass a test. It's not contextualized.”

“My earliest attempts at writing were when I was seven. I would sit at the piano and transcribe the songs I heard on the radio. I'd change little things in the music and write different lyrics.”

“I always say that the problem with jazz accessibility is not the content of the music, it's people's ability to access it.”

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

“I was exposed to many kinds of music including rock and disco, classical and folk, Midtown and Miles Davis, Sly Stone and David Bowie.”

“There's enough time in the day: If you go to bed at 10 and start your day at 6, there's a lot you can do in a day!”

“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 that's where I practice and write and listen and study.”

“I like to read, and I like dance. I don't dance, but I like to see other people dance.”

“And I feel that it's inevitable that the work that I do will reflect the life that I live. And the life I live feels very diverse.”

“I love Aretha Franklin, Edith Piaf, Blondie.”