Beiber haters were enthralled when he lost the 2011 Best New Artist Grammy to Esperanza Spalding. The natural reaction after the upset was unanimous: who the fuck is that? Similar sentiments were felt over Arcade Fire’s Grammy win for Album of the Year last year as well, but for Spalding, would this bring her a wider audience and where would she take the music? As the companion piece to “Chamber Music Society” in title only, Spalding expands out a bit, channeling funk, pop and soul through the jazz frame to make a wider appealing record to non jazz listeners.

At it’s basic, Radio Music Society seeks to bring jazz music to the masses of non jazz listening folk. The album sounds like a person flipping between radio stations and getting nothing but jazz. For the average listener, that may not appeal to you, but don’t pass up on this just yet. The album is engineered from the start to pull you in and expose you to a wide variety of sounds.

The album’s opener, “Radio Music,” grabs you with it’s pulled back jazz instrumentation, designed to not overwhelm the listener. It’s a song that advocates musical discovery, finding that one song on the radio and just rocking out to it. The records first single, “Black Gold,” is it’s most radio friendly/wider appealing song, relying, again on pulled back instrumentation that’s light and airy. The Q-Tip produced track, “City of Roses” is very much a tribute to Spalding’s beloved hometown, Portland. It’s a great tribute, like “Empire State of Mind” only less anthemic, involving more of your senses (If you can’t smell Portland after this song, take another listen.).

The album isn’t flawless by any means; the track “Vague Suspicions” is meant to be a social commentary, but sounds more like slam poetry, slowed down, and devoid of it’s impact. It’s meandering and all around under whelming. The track, “Let Her,” is a beautifully arranged track that would be better if it weren’t for the Pink Floyd-esque phone conversation that pops up throughout the track. “Endangered Species” is another great track, but feels very claustrophobic with it’s wave of sound just bombarding the listener.

Despite it’s flaws, Spalding does a great job of appealing to a wider audience, but where do you go from here? Do you continue to push those jazz boundaries, or do you go back to that traditional jazz sound? While the question is problematic, the results will be compelling; let’s be honest, Spalding has never made a bad album, and if you expect her to, you’ll be proven wrong.

Album Rating: Stream It or Digitally Download It

Listening Co-efficient: Passive Listen

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