NEVER SAY NEVER

Esperanza Spalding’s large ensemble r&b/soul/jazz fusion isn’t the most offensive music out there, but that didn’t protect her from the fury of a thousand teenagers scorned when she beat out Justin Bieber for the Best New Artist award at the 2011 Grammys. But this year, while the teen idol teased us with “Boyfriend,” the Portland bandleader released Radio Music Society, a follow-up LP that might impress the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences even more than the last one. Tonight, she and a dozen backing musicians come to Webster Hall and bring tracks like “Radio Song,” an upbeat ode to the pleasure of FM, to a live setting.

Sat., April 21, 8 p.m., 2012