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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Jazz music just resonates with the frequency of me.

I just think music is so intrinsically linked with images in the culture that we live in that you'll be hard-pressed to have an experience with the music without a preconceived notion.

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.