Esperanza Spalding Announces Tenth Anniversary Edition Of Grammy-Winning ‘Radio Music Society’

The Grammy-winning fourth album by Esperanza Spalding, Radio Music Society, will be released in a tenth anniversary edition by Craft Recordings on December 2. Now available for pre-order, it will be available as a 2LP set on 180 gram vinyl at RTI, and in hi-res digital audio.

The 2012 set, executive-produced by Q-Tip, earned the singer, songwriter, and bassist the second and third of her five Grammys to date at the 2013 ceremony, as Best Jazz Vocal Album and, for “City of Roses,” Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s). Spalding had memorably won the Best New Artist title at the 2011 Grammy Awards, and has gone to subsequent recognition for 12 Little Spells and Songwrights Apothecary Lab, both of which also won Best Jazz Album.

Radio Music Society included the singles “Black Gold” and “Radio Song” and was created with a stellar cast including pianist Leo Genovese, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, as well as vocalists Lalah Hathaway, Algebra Blessett, Leni Stern, and Gretchen Parlato. Others in the cast included Darren Barrett (trumpet), guitarists Jef Lee Johnson and Lionel Loueke, and drummers Billy Hart and Jack DeJohnette.

Ten original tracks were complemented by covers of Wayne Shorter’s “Endangered Species” and the Stevie Wonder-penned “I Can’t Help It,” best known in its version on Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall album. “Black Gold,” a Top 40 Adult R&B hit, featured vocals from Blessett and Loueke, with the additional backing of the Savannah Children’s Choir; the second single and album opener “Radio Song” had Spalding ruminating on the magical power of music. “Crowned & Kissed” shone the spotlight on Carrington and Genovese, while “Hold on Me” echoed the influence of classic jazz singers.

The album debuted at No.10 on the Billboard 200 and No.1 on the Jazz chart, also hitting the Top 40 in Japan and countries across Europe. Accolades poured in from around the world, including from Germany’s Spiegel, the UK’s The Guardian, and Rolling Stone, who called Spalding “a dazzling player.”

Pre-order the tenth anniversary edition of Radio Music Society.