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Milton Nascimento / Esperanza Spalding: Milton + esperanza

By Chris May
July 31, 2024
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Milton Nascimento / Esperanza Spalding: Milton + esperanza

Sometimes the semiology around an album can tell you more about it than any amount of words attempting to describe the music itself. And the semiology around Milton + esperanza is eloquent. It begins with the overlap with another summer 2024 release,

Wayne Shorter

saxophone
1933 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Shorter's magical double-album Celebration Volume 1 (Blue Note), a previously unreleased recording of Shorter's Quartet in concert in 2014, with liner notes written by Shorter's wife Carolina.

Now consider the overlap. Wayne Shorter recorded with

Milton Nascimento

guitar and vocals
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Milton Nascimento on the 1975 album Native Dancer (CBS), and the relationship continued until Shorter passed in 2023. Towards the end of his life, Shorter was a mentor and champion of

Esperanza Spalding

bass
b.1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Esperanza Spalding. Shorter's "When You Dream" (from his 1985 CBS album Atlantis) closes Milton + esperanza. Carolina Shorter is a guest vocalist on the track, singing alongside Nascimento and Spalding. She is heard on another track, too, "Wings For The Thought Bird," chanting a Nichiren Buddhist mantra. Nascimento and Spalding were introduced to each other by the Shorters' friend

Herbie Hancock

piano
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Herbie Hancock, and they first collaborated on Spalding's Chamber Music Society (Heads Up, 2010).

Enough semiology. The smoke signals should be in clear sight. They promise beauty and depth, and both are delivered in generous quantities. Check the YouTube below.

The music on Shorter's Celebration Volume 1 is superficially different from that on Milton + esperanza. But there are profound similarities. (Shorter's album is scheduled for release on August 23, 2024, a month ahead at the time of writing this review.) Listening to Celebration Volume 1, one feels like one is cruising through space on Starship Shorter, watching an unfolding panorama of quasars, suns, star systems and new life forms pass by. Another metaphor might be one of those deep-sea explorations where strange but beautiful sea creatures drift in and out of the submersible's spotlight. It is a trip alright.

So is Milton + esperanza, but the voyage is closer to home. A recurring theme in the song lyrics seems—most of the lyrics are in Portuguese and no English translations are provided, so it is hard to be certain—to concern the health of planet Earth and how it can be secured. The music is in the same elevated ballpark as the Shorter album, although Spalding and Nascimento have more instrumental resources at hand than did the Quartet, including a full-sized string orchestra and plenty of guest artists. The latter include

Shabaka Hutchings

woodwinds

" data-original-title="" title="">Shabaka Hutchings on tenor saxophone and flute on three tracks, the great

Guinga

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Guinga on guitar and vocals on two tracks, and

Lianne La Havas

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Lianne La Havas,

Paul Simon

composer / conductor
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Simon and

Dianne Reeves

vocals
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Dianne Reeves helping out on vocals on one track each.

The sixteen tracks include new arrangements of five Nascimento classics, newly written originals by Spalding and an out-of-its-tree reading of The Beatles' "A Day In The Life" (though, it should be said, no further out than the Fab Four managed in 1967 with two four-track tape machines and the zeitgeist). The core band is Spalding's touring group:

Matthew Stevens

guitar
b.1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Matthew Stevens (guitar),

Justin Tyson

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Justin Tyson and

Eric Doob

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Doob (drums),

Leo Genovese

keyboards
b.1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Leo Genovese (piano) and

Corey D. King

synthesizer

" data-original-title="" title="">Corey D. King (vocals, synth). Most of the album was recorded in Rio de Janeiro in 2023, with Spalding producing, and arranging all but the string orchestra.

An utterly enchanting album which at times possesses something approaching a sacred vibe.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

The Music Was There; Cais; Late September; Outubro; A Day In The Life; Interlude For Saci; Saci; Wings For The Thought Bird; The Way You Are; Earth Song; Morro Velho; Saudade Dos Avioes Da Panair (Conversando No Bar); Um Vento Passou; Get It By Now; Outro Planeta; When You Dream.

Personnel

Esperanza Spalding

bass

Milton Nascimento

guitar and vocals

Matthew Stevens

guitar

Justin Tyson

drums

Eric Doob

drums

Leo Genovese

keyboards

Corey D. King

synthesizer

Shabaka Hutchings

woodwinds

Elena Pinderhughes

flute

Lianne La Havas

vocals

Carolina Shorter

vocals

Dianne Reeves

vocals

Additional Instrumentation

Esperanza Spalding: bass, vocals; Shabaka Hutchings: tenor saxophone (3), flute (6,12,13); Elena Pinderhughes: flute (4,8); Guinga: vocals and guitar (6,7); Dianne Reeves: vocals (10); Lianne La Havas: vocals (12); Paul Simon: vocals (13); Carolina Shorter: vocals (8,16). Orquestra Ouro Preto: strings.

Album information

Title: Milton + esperanza | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Concord Music Group

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