By Anna Skinner

Esperanza Spalding threw 100 percent of herself and more into her concert June 18 at the Palladium.

Spalding has won four different Grammys, and plays the bass and cello to accompany her jazz music.

At her concert at the Palladium, Spalding donned the persona of a bartender, elevator operator and a graduate to fully complete the meaning behind her songs.

Spalding described the new project being created during a “sleepless night of full moon inspiration” and uses concepts of poetry, theater and movement within her work.  Her songs were a mix between music and drama.

Spalding touches on many different genres within her performances and has no problem with creating an interactive audience.

Her performance, “Emily’s D+Evolution,” is christened after her middle name.

“Emily is my middle name, and I’m using this fresh persona as my inner navigator. This project is about going back and reclaiming un-cultivated curiosity, and using it as a compass to move forward and expand,” Spalding stated in a press release. “My hope for this group is to create a world around each song, there are a lot of juicy themes and stories in the music.”

Spalding performed much of original music, yet ended the show with Joni Mitchell’s “Help Me.”

A large variety of ages attended the performance, some attendees as young as small children. Spalding created a lot of diversity within her music and the crowd.

Spalding was the second to last performance of the Center for the Performing Arts’ Franklin College Summer Show. The last show was the Annie Moses Band on June 19.