PERFORMANCE/TOUR: Esperanza Spalding Charismatic and Soulful Maturing Star of Jazz

Esperanza Spalding carried herself like a worldbeater at Central Park SummerStage on Sunday afternoon, and resistance was largely futile. In her ebullient singing and her agile bass playing, Ms. Spalding radiated a cyclone-force charisma, along with the fresh-faced self-conviction that only precocity can bestow. But the hourlong show was more than a reminder of her talent. It was heartening confirmation of her recent growth: as an artist, a bandleader, a vocalist and a star attraction, if not...

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