#Growns in case you missed it last week Esperanza Spalding recorded her latest project Exposure during a 77 hour live feed. This makes Exposure the first album ever created entirely on Facebook Live. The 7,777 CD’s slated for release sold out shortly thereafter. This is the now and the future. Why do I state that so boldly? With Exposure Esperanza has tapped into a place where our collective consciousness is evolving to: true authenticity.
Esperanza states “Today’s world has a way of teaching us that who we are is not good enough as it is. It tells us that we’re better when we look our best. And that as artists, our work requires polish before it can be seen.” I often discuss this very idea with family and friends. We live in a world full of “reality shows” and Instagram Filters and what I often point to is the fact that life in real time is not edited nor filtered. So why should it be any different for art? Well something that is pretty glaring is that in my opinion in order to undertake an endeavor like this you have to be an actual aritst. With the understanding that artist and the definition for what constitutes an artist is subjective I hope that we can agree that there’s a certain amount of skill required for an exposition like this.
In other words if there’s nothing below the surface there’s really nothing to be exposed. Esperanza Spalding has proven time and time again over the course of her career that she inhabits a world light years away from the superficial.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
