Milton + esperanza is spalding’s first new album release since 2021's songwrights apothecary lab, which along with 2019’s 12 Little Spells, both won GRAMMY Awards (Best Jazz Vocal Album). Last year spalding released a protest song entitled “Não Ao Marco Temporal” that was recorded in Rio and addresses the Temporal Framework, an initiative in Brazil that threatens Indigenous Brazilians’ land rights and poses a major risk to the Amazon rainforest.

A 5-time GRAMMY winner and 11-time nominee, spalding has previously released 8 full length albums and in addition to working with her heroes including Nascimento and Shorter, she has collaborated with Q-Tip, Janelle Monae, Robert Glasper, Terri Lyne Carrington and many others. As a composer her credits include writing the libretto for the opera Iphigenia with Wayne Shorter, which premiered in 2021. She is also a philanthropist and advocate, and is currently working to create a BIPOC artist sanctuary in her hometown of Portland, OR.