'City of
Roses’
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brew er 41
Established in 1970
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Volume XXXXI, Number 7
Wednesday * February 16. 2011
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Best
Ne w
Artist
Spalding
impresses
music world
with Grammy
by C liff
P fenning
T he P ortland O bserver
The popular m usic culture exp an d ed sig­
nificantly w hen E speranza Spalding, a hom e
grow n P ortland m usician w on the G ram m y
for B est N ew A rtist Sunday in Los A ngeles.
Spalding, a ja z z bassist, w on the aw ard
ov er heavy favorite Justin B ieber, w ho has
quickly becom e part o f popular culture due
,,
Esperanza Spalding
thanked her friends in
Portland, along with
her mother as well as
her teachers, during
her acceptance
speech for Best New
Artist at the 53rd
annual Grammy
Awards Sunday in Los
Angeles.
to his ow n success w ithin po p u lar m usic.
Spalding, 26, has perfo rm ed for President
B arack O b am a and even taught at the re ­
now ned B erklee C ollege o f M usic in Boston,
but is a virtual unknow n am ong the general
public due to h er lack o f radio airplay and
trendy public appearances.
“ I certain ly did not expect to even be
co n sid ered for that type o f n o m ination,”
Spalding p osted on h er w eb site M onday.
“M y being a little old ja z z m usician and
e v ery th in g .”
Spalding is the first jazz artist to w in the
Grammy award for Best New Artist. She thanked
all o f her friends in Portland during her accep­
tance speech in the nationally televised cer­
em ony. She also perform ed during the show.
S palding is scheduled to return to the
R ose C ity and perform before a sold-out
crow d at the N ew m ark T h eater on Friday,
Feb. 25, one day after
teaching a one-day M as­
ters class at Portland State
U niversity.
Spalding, w ho grew up
in northeast P ortland and
attended King Elem entary
as a child, attended PSU
for a y e ar before m oving
to B oston to study and
perform.
A long with her stylish
A fro, she has earned a
reputation for her depth o f
musical talent, which in­
cludes vocals and skill with the violin, oboe,
clarinet, upright bass and bass guitar. S he’s
been active as an artist for the past 10 years.
H er third album , released independently
in A ugust, is C h am b er M usic Society.
Spalding was bom into a single-parent
household in Portland in 1984. She credits
cellist Yo Yo M a for inspiring her to learn the
continued
on page 19
Proud Diversity
Etched in Stone
Construction to begin on heritage markers
by L ee
P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
A small triangle park is one o f a series o f heritage markers that will memorialize the
diverse neighborhoods, past and present, along Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. An
artist's rendering from the Portland Development Commission gives a perspective on
what one o f the memorials will look like on southbound MLK ju s t north o f Broadway.
The pride o f som e o f north and n o rth ­
east P o rtlan d ’s m ost diverse n eig h b o r­
hoods and histories is being etched in
stone, literally, on M artin L uther K ing Jr.
B oulevard.
C onstruction will begin this spring on
the Portland D ev elo p m en tC o m m issio n ’s
H eritage M arker project.
A large traffic island on N ortheast
G rand A venue at H ancock Street, the point
at which M LK becom es a tw o-w ay street, will
be transform ed into a gatew ay into the area.
The m ain feature w ill be four stone m arkers,
each square in shape and 20 feet high. On
each o f the 16 faces o f the m arkers will be text
about the history o f the area co v erin g six
them es: com m unity, civil rights, com m erce,
culture, m igration and im m igration.
continued
on page 19