With her clear, high voice and supple low playing, bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding won the 2011 Grammy for best new artist. In a way it was surprising — no jazz artist had won and teenage hitmaker Justin Bieber was heavily favored. In another way it seems inevitable, because there’s inherently more credibility in voting for a breakout virtuoso than for an adolescent heartthrob, and the Spalding’s record “The Chamber Music Society” is a winning mixture of seriousness and light, blending an eclectic selection of covers with her poetic compositions. Young and pretty, model-slim with a huge post-Afro mane, the Grammy recognition has launched her career into first-rank orbit. Esperanza Spalding plays a sold out show at University of Richmond’s Modlin Center on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. $22-$45. 289-8980.