With a luxuriant voice redolent of the red soil that sustained her growing up in Georgia, Lizz Wright sanctifies every song she sings. While the highly-acclaimed vocalist first gained attention delivering Swing Era standards associated with Billie Holiday, she's continued in recent years as a singer/songwriter whose music eludes definition. For these special 2023-24 Season Opening Week concerts, Wright will be performing music from her forthcoming new album Shadows, which blends together jazz, blues, R&B, strings and soul. The performance will also include a wide range of cover songs from Cole Porter to Candi Staton and more.
A quartet of albums on the Verve label, beginning with 2003's Salt and concluding with the gospel-infused Fellowship from 2010, established Wright as a major artist whose reach wasn't bound by the limits of any one genre. Since the release of Fellowship, Wright has been continually working in varying settings with a number of sublimely talented women including drummer Terri Lyne Carrington's GRAMMY-winning Mosaic Project and a touring tribute to Miriam Makeba, Abbey Lincoln and Odetta featuring fellow vocalists Dianne Reeves and Angelique Kidjo.
After Wright's GRAMMY-nominated 2015 Concord Records album Freedom & Surrender and the 2017 follow-up Grace, her newest venture is the establishment of her own label, Blues & Greens Records, and its debut release, 2022's live date Holding Space.
In describing the inimitable voice of Lizz Wright, JazzTimes enthuses: "(her) soul-jazz lilt - soft as peach fuzz yet iron-sturdy - is the musical equivalent of a protective hug from a keenly empathetic friend."
~~~~~~~~
Lizz Wright has been the recipient of nonstop critical acclaim and ever-increasing audiences ever since her Verve debut. Like so many vocal greats, Lizz began her singing in the church. For her it was a small church in Hahira, Georgia where her father served as musical director and where she soaked up the sounds of songs of faith. She was also surrounded by varied types of secular music at home especially jazz and soul. Wright moved to Atlanta in the late 90s to attend Georgia State University and began singing classical repertoire under Dr. Dwight Coleman. She also began singing jazz, both solo and as part of the popular local group In The Spirit. She made a name for herself in other parts of the country in 2002 as part of a touring concert tribute to Billie Holiday, where her poised, emotive performance stole the show.
A year later Wright was signed by Verve Records and worked with legendary jazz producer Tommy LiPuma on her debut album, Salt. It topped the contemporary jazz charts and became one of the most acclaimed albums of 2003, mixing standards with new material and styles ranging from Gospel to Soul to Jazz to Blues with ease. And her clear, deep voice and mature phrasing certainly belied her age (then 23).
show less
A quartet of albums on the Verve label, beginning with 2003's Salt and concluding with the gospel-infused Fellowship from 2010, established Wright as a major artist whose reach wasn't bound by the limits of any one genre. Since the release of Fellowship, Wright has been continually working in varying settings with a number of sublimely talented women including drummer Terri Lyne Carrington's GRAMMY-winning Mosaic Project and a touring tribute to Miriam Makeba, Abbey Lincoln and Odetta featuring fellow vocalists Dianne Reeves and Angelique Kidjo.
After Wright's GRAMMY-nominated 2015 Concord Records album Freedom & Surrender and the 2017 follow-up Grace, her newest venture is the establishment of her own label, Blues & Greens Records, and its debut release, 2022's live date Holding Space.
In describing the inimitable voice of Lizz Wright, JazzTimes enthuses: "(her) soul-jazz lilt - soft as peach fuzz yet iron-sturdy - is the musical equivalent of a protective hug from a keenly empathetic friend."
~~~~~~~~
Lizz Wright has been the recipient of nonstop critical acclaim and ever-increasing audiences ever since her Verve debut. Like so many vocal greats, Lizz began her singing in the church. For her it was a small church in Hahira, Georgia where her father served as musical director and where she soaked up the sounds of songs of faith. She was also surrounded by varied types of secular music at home especially jazz and soul. Wright moved to Atlanta in the late 90s to attend Georgia State University and began singing classical repertoire under Dr. Dwight Coleman. She also began singing jazz, both solo and as part of the popular local group In The Spirit. She made a name for herself in other parts of the country in 2002 as part of a touring concert tribute to Billie Holiday, where her poised, emotive performance stole the show.
A year later Wright was signed by Verve Records and worked with legendary jazz producer Tommy LiPuma on her debut album, Salt. It topped the contemporary jazz charts and became one of the most acclaimed albums of 2003, mixing standards with new material and styles ranging from Gospel to Soul to Jazz to Blues with ease. And her clear, deep voice and mature phrasing certainly belied her age (then 23).
With a luxuriant voice redolent of the red soil that sustained her growing up in Georgia, Lizz Wright sanctifies every song she sings. While the highly-acclaimed vocalist first gained attention delivering Swing Era standards associated with Billie Holiday, she's continued in recent years as a singer/songwriter whose music eludes definition. For these special 2023-24 Season Opening Week concerts, Wright will be performing music from her forthcoming new album Shadows, which blends together jazz, blues, R&B, strings and soul. The performance will also include a wide range of cover songs from Cole Porter to Candi Staton and more.
A quartet of albums on the Verve label, beginning with 2003's Salt and concluding with the gospel-infused Fellowship from 2010, established Wright as a major artist whose reach wasn't bound by the limits of any one genre. Since the release of Fellowship, Wright has been continually working in varying settings with a number of sublimely talented women including drummer Terri Lyne Carrington's GRAMMY-winning Mosaic Project and a touring tribute to Miriam Makeba, Abbey Lincoln and Odetta featuring fellow vocalists Dianne Reeves and Angelique Kidjo.
After Wright's GRAMMY-nominated 2015 Concord Records album Freedom & Surrender and the 2017 follow-up Grace, her newest venture is the establishment of her own label, Blues & Greens Records, and its debut release, 2022's live date Holding Space.
In describing the inimitable voice of Lizz Wright, JazzTimes enthuses: "(her) soul-jazz lilt - soft as peach fuzz yet iron-sturdy - is the musical equivalent of a protective hug from a keenly empathetic friend."
~~~~~~~~
Lizz Wright has been the recipient of nonstop critical acclaim and ever-increasing audiences ever since her Verve debut. Like so many vocal greats, Lizz began her singing in the church. For her it was a small church in Hahira, Georgia where her father served as musical director and where she soaked up the sounds of songs of faith. She was also surrounded by varied types of secular music at home especially jazz and soul. Wright moved to Atlanta in the late 90s to attend Georgia State University and began singing classical repertoire under Dr. Dwight Coleman. She also began singing jazz, both solo and as part of the popular local group In The Spirit. She made a name for herself in other parts of the country in 2002 as part of a touring concert tribute to Billie Holiday, where her poised, emotive performance stole the show.
A year later Wright was signed by Verve Records and worked with legendary jazz producer Tommy LiPuma on her debut album, Salt. It topped the contemporary jazz charts and became one of the most acclaimed albums of 2003, mixing standards with new material and styles ranging from Gospel to Soul to Jazz to Blues with ease. And her clear, deep voice and mature phrasing certainly belied her age (then 23).
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A quartet of albums on the Verve label, beginning with 2003's Salt and concluding with the gospel-infused Fellowship from 2010, established Wright as a major artist whose reach wasn't bound by the limits of any one genre. Since the release of Fellowship, Wright has been continually working in varying settings with a number of sublimely talented women including drummer Terri Lyne Carrington's GRAMMY-winning Mosaic Project and a touring tribute to Miriam Makeba, Abbey Lincoln and Odetta featuring fellow vocalists Dianne Reeves and Angelique Kidjo.
After Wright's GRAMMY-nominated 2015 Concord Records album Freedom & Surrender and the 2017 follow-up Grace, her newest venture is the establishment of her own label, Blues & Greens Records, and its debut release, 2022's live date Holding Space.
In describing the inimitable voice of Lizz Wright, JazzTimes enthuses: "(her) soul-jazz lilt - soft as peach fuzz yet iron-sturdy - is the musical equivalent of a protective hug from a keenly empathetic friend."
~~~~~~~~
Lizz Wright has been the recipient of nonstop critical acclaim and ever-increasing audiences ever since her Verve debut. Like so many vocal greats, Lizz began her singing in the church. For her it was a small church in Hahira, Georgia where her father served as musical director and where she soaked up the sounds of songs of faith. She was also surrounded by varied types of secular music at home especially jazz and soul. Wright moved to Atlanta in the late 90s to attend Georgia State University and began singing classical repertoire under Dr. Dwight Coleman. She also began singing jazz, both solo and as part of the popular local group In The Spirit. She made a name for herself in other parts of the country in 2002 as part of a touring concert tribute to Billie Holiday, where her poised, emotive performance stole the show.
A year later Wright was signed by Verve Records and worked with legendary jazz producer Tommy LiPuma on her debut album, Salt. It topped the contemporary jazz charts and became one of the most acclaimed albums of 2003, mixing standards with new material and styles ranging from Gospel to Soul to Jazz to Blues with ease. And her clear, deep voice and mature phrasing certainly belied her age (then 23).
show less
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SFJAZZ Center - SF Jazz
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