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Diehard fans of that cherubic Canadian waif Justin Bieber are outraged that the singer lost the Best New Artists Grammy award to Esperanza Spalding, a jazz bassist and singer who, in addition to being a hell of a musician, is also a native Portlander. Spalding was born here in 1984, attended the private downtown arts high school Northwest Academy, was at one point concertmaster of the Chamber Music Society of Oregon, and claims as an influence local trumpeter Thara Memory. She is the first jazz artist and the first Portlander to win the award, which places her in the company of such greats as, uh, Hootie & The Blowfish and Evanescence. Guess the Grammys are finally trying to class it up. The New Yorker ran an excellent profile of Spalding last year (behind a paywall, unfortunately), and she is playing a sold-out show at the Newmark Theater on Feb. 25.
WWeek 2015