Esperanza Spalding at the Modlin Center

Wednesday, Oct. 12

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.

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