On Tuesday, the folks at YouTube graciously gave NPR Music a big chunk of its homepage to curate some recommended videos. Each of us in the office got the chance to nominate a few favorites. I made sure there were a few modern jazz performances up there, prioritizing clips which came from public radio and TV. Among my nominations were this burst of charisma from Esperanza Spalding on Austin City Limits. by Patrick Jarenwattananon.

Coinciding with the opening night of Healdsburg Jazz Festival last June, photographer and artist George B. Wells presented his latest exhibition, based on mosaics created from different images of musicians and festival characters. Esperanza’s mosaic is compose by 3600 images. The exhibition is open until late July at The Flying Goat Coffee, Healdsburg, California.

Havana Cultura Live, The Barbican Hall, London By John Walters, The Guardian.
It’s a familiar challenge: how do you turn a multi-artist concept album into a coherent live event? Too many individuals and it becomes to bitty, too few and it can lose the grand idea that made it work in first place.
click here to read the concert review.

Esperanza Spalding on Jazz, Google and Playing with Prince
By Christopher John Farley, The Wall Street Journal.

When Esperanza Spalding performed at the White House last year, she was introuced by the announcer as “the brightest young star on the jazz horizon”. Since that show, the jazz bassist’s profile has only risen, with a performance on the Prince tribute at the recent BET Awards and her recent selectionas the top rising star in the acoustic bass category in the 58th Annual DownBeat Critics Poll.
to  read the interview click here.

Visit Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club® and Omara Portuondo’s Facebook and see the latest photos of their most recent live shows.

Last Sunday June 27th, Esperanza Spalding performed as a featured artist at the 10th annual BET Music Awards hosted by Queen Latifah. Esperanza paid tribute to Prince who received a lifetime achievement award. Esperanza performed “If I was your Girlfriend” and also sang with Janelle Monae, Patti LaBelle and Alicia Keys.

Gilles Peterson & Roberto Fonseca Presents…Havana Cultura European Tour began last Saturday June 26th at Bordeaux Music Festival. Performances include the Danish Roskilde Festival, London’s Barbican Hall and shows in France and Austria.
“It’s in the very lifeblood of the city itself, and you can literally taste the energy and vibe…” “The Havana Cultura initiative encourages these artists to showcase their work and achieve the credit and recognition they deserve worldwide” -Gilles Peterson

Esperanza Spalding will perform as a featured artist this Sunday June 27th 8:00PM EST at the 10th annual BET Music Awards hosted by Queen Latifah at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Esperanza will pay tribute to Prince who is receiving a life time achievement award. BET AWARDS’10 will recognize the achievements of artists, entertainers and athletes in 19 different categories.