Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding on what it takes to be authentic

Great artists are authentic. It’s how they are able to connect to enormous audiences, yet each person experiencing the music, or art, feels directly spoken to. What would you do if you could go through life with this kind of genuine, inspiring power? Being yourself, truly yourself, is hard. Today, we speak with legendary Grammy-winning jazz musicians Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding about how Buddhism has helped them become their most authentic selves. P.S. The book mentioned in the episode is called Reaching Beyond: Improvisations on Jazz, Buddhism, and a Joyful Life. Cheatsheet: 1:25 Introduction to Wayne & Esperanza2:41 How Esperanza discovered Buddhism5:22 Why Wayne started chanting7:11 How Wayne discovered a deeper purpose to playing music8:10 How chanting helped Wayne see himself more clearly12:23 Esperanza on authenticity as a musician17:35 Wayne on how Buddhism can help you check yourself19:25 Esperanza on how to unlock your own capacity20:34 Some notes on Esperanza’s “life force”21:48 On Wayne & Esperanza’s friendship23:33 Wayne’s advice to anyone who feels stuck with their art or work24:57 A key lesson from today’s conversation

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