Esperanza Spalding, Grammy-award-winning singer-songwriter and jazz bassist extraordinaire, has announced her new album, though she hasn’t written any songs. On September 12 at 12 p.m. Eastern, Spalding will begin writing and recording her next album, aptly titled Exposure–move over, Robert Fripp–limiting herself to a 77-hour timeframe and live-streaming the entire thing. (Yes, that includes the sleep breaks). The audience will be able to chat comments to Spalding during the process. There will be other musicians and the expected “special guests” involved in the project as well.
Spalding seems to be set on dividing the music she makes into 10 songs. In a press statement, she writes:
I foresee that creating before a live audience will add excitement and extra inspiration energy. Knowing someone is watching and listening to what you’re making seems to conjure up a sort of “can’t fail” energy. The necessity to keep going because it’s live draws up another depth of creative facility that can’t be reached when you know you can try again tomorrow.
Having such limited time to write and record 10 songs will also force us to rely on improvisation and first instinct. Not allowing us time to judge, second guess, question, or alter the initial hits of inspiration that drive the creation of each song.
That means that the audience will get a record of the most potent, charged, fresh-from-the ethers-compositional, musical and lyrical content. Of course they will be formed into songs, but they’ll carry the charge of the immediate, of the innately inspired artists co-creating in the room throughout the 3 day process.”
After the album is finished, 7,777 CDs will be released (they can be pre-ordered) along with pieces of the notepaper on which Spalding wrote the music. It all seems like a bit much, but we’re looking forward to watching it all happen. Watch Spalding’s promotional video for the project below.
Spalding’s last album Emily’s D+Evolution, made Spin‘s Top 50 Albums of 2016 list. Read Spalding’s “Knowing Your Ballot” essay for Spin here.
You buy a blank CD. Then over 3 days, I’ll fill it with beautiful, spontaneously created music. #EXPOSURE #FACEBOOKLIVE #SEP12 pic.twitter.com/zz7H24z0xR
— Esperanza Spalding (@EspeSpalding) July 26, 2017
