subject: Esperanza Who? – The Surprise Best New Artist Grammy Winner [print this page] Esperanza Who? The Surprise Best New Artist Grammy Winner
The winner of the Best New Artist at the 53rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, left many scratching their heads saying "Esperanza who?" That would be Spalding, Esperanza Spalding.
And the reaction around the celebrity gossip columns proves that her victory was a surprise to everyone, including herself, "I really wasn't expecting that at all. I looked at my brother and said, really?'"
For those who don't know of her, which is probably an overwhelming majority, Spalding is a 26 year old from a relatively downtrodden neighbourhood in Portland, Oregon, on the United States western coast. Her talents are plenty as she doubles as a fantastically unique lead singer while simultaneously playing the stand-up bass in her Jazz fusion performances. The first jazz musician to take home the Best New Artist award, Spalding's most notable appearance to date has been her performance at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies in honour of U.S. President Barack Obama.
This is all well and good, but a bit unbelievable when you look at her competition for the award. There was heralded rapper Drake, the eclectic Florence and the Machine, London's own Mumford and Sons and the one and only Justin Bieber. Bieber, who performed on stage with Usher, ended up walking out of the Grammy's without either of the two awards he was nominated for in hand, crushing the spirits of 13 year old girls everywhere. He will remain part of the upcoming celebrity news; however, with a new album debuting February 14th entitled Never Say Never: The Remixes.
Although the UK's golden boy Mumford and Sons ended the night empty handed, they had one of the best performances of the night sharing the stage with The Avett Brothers and the one and only Bob Dylan. Mumford and Sons kicked the performance off with a beautiful, albeit a bit tentative, performance of The Cave before surrendering the stage to The Avett Brothers to play Head full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise. Mumford returned to join The Avett Brothers with Bob Dylan for an incredibly enjoyable rendition of Maggie's Farm, despite Dylan's worn voice, easily one of the best highlights of the night, leaving Mumford and Sons to be the big winners of the night, surpassing even the Grammy of Esperanza Spalding.
