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12 Little Spells

12 Little Spells is the seventh studio album by American bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding.[1] It was released on October 19, 2018, by Concord Records. Each song was released individually from October 7–18, 2018 and each track also contains a music video.[2]

12 Little Spells

October 19, 2018

2018

Atomic Sound, NYC

55:41

  • Esperanza Spalding
  • Matthew Stevens
  • Justin Tyson

12 Little Spells debuted at number 31 on the US Billboard Top Album Sales and number 1 on the Jazz Albums chart. At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.[3]

Background[edit]

The album is a decidedly significant departure from her previous work, utilising an experimental framing device in which each song correlates to a single body part. With this, Spalding stated she hoped to distance herself from the identity of a "musician" and associate herself with an unbound experimentalism that cannot be categorised.[4]

– vocals, acoustic bass, electric bass

Esperanza Spalding

– guitar, electric bass

Matt Stevens

Justin Tyson – drums, organ, synths, vocals, beats & programming

Aaron Burnett – saxophone

Burniss Travis – electric bass, acoustic bass, vocals

Corey King – vocals

Rob Schwimmer – continuum

("12 Little Spells")

Orchestra

Eric Reed – French horn

Laura Weiner – French horn

Brandon Ridenour – trumpet

John Blevins – trumpet

Richard Harris – tenor/bass trombone

Julietta Curenton – flute, piccolo

Katie Hyun – violin

Sami Merdinian – violin

Fernando Lodeiro – recording and mixing engineer