With Emily’s D+Evolution, Esperanza Spalding makes the big leap from jazz’s young hotshot bassist/vocalist to polyglot artist with an expansive, embracing vision. Co-produced by Tony Visconti (Bowie’s longtime helmsman), it’s the audio element of a larger-scale concept—one encompassing eye-popping visuals, fancy-schmancy staging, choreography and more. Emily, her middle name, is a character within (though not in an obvious, Ziggy Stardust sort of way), based on Spalding’s childhood self; the songs, she has said, are connected thematically, though how isn’t always readily clear. Not that it matters much whether they are or aren’t. What becomes immediately apparent to anyone who’s followed her to this point is that this is daring, exciting new ground for Esperanza Spalding. If she occasionally teased at interests falling outside of the jazz realm before, then she goes for it big-time here—although she is constitutionally incapable of leaving her experimental jazz sensibilities fully behind. “Noble Nobles” is of the Joni Mitchell singer-songwriter school, while opener “Good Lava” is power rock via prog-soul, Spalding’s vocal calisthenics riffing this way and that on the simple lyric “See this pretty girl flow, wait ‘til you feel it.” Twisted time signatures and layered vocals mark “Ebony And Ivy,” while “Farewell Dolly” is lysergically baroque. Working with a remarkably flexible band built around guitarist Matthew Stevens, drummer Karriem Riggins and her own bass—yes, she remains a wicked practitioner of her chosen axe—Emily’s D+Evolution is Spalding’s step out into something else altogether.