A young and talented bassist kicks off a diverse jazz weekend.

Decked out in a 1950s-esque dress and a look reminiscent to soul singer Roberta Flack, jazz bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding put on one energetic show to open up the 52nd annual Monterey Jazz Festival.

"I'm going to play a jazz rock song now. Is that OK?" Spalding said with a sly smile, following with a small joke. "Those of you who don't like it can just come back in in a little bit. It's only about five minutes."

Soft-spoken between songs, but grooving while picking and slapping her bass and lettting her soul into her vocals, Spalding channeled classic jazz cats like Wayne Shorter—who she claims as one of her heroes—during her hour-long set on Friday. One of her other main influences in the music of Brazil, which was evident as she sang in Spanish during a few numbers.

The 23-year-old bass and vocal prodigy took a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston and continued with encouragement from jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny.

Visit the 2009 Monterey Jazz Festival for a complete schedule of the weekend.