IMN : Updates for Lizz Wright

Lizz Wright's Voice is "Rich and Gorgeous and Effortless"

IMN

April 22nd, 2013

From Mountain Xpress

Five Questions – LEAF Preview
By: Alli Marshall

WNC-based roots/folk/jazz/gospel singer and composer Lizz Wright has released four solo albums and contributed to many more projects (more on that below). But she also took time out to attend culinary school and to blog about both her garden and her kitchen.

Find the full festival schedulehere. LEAF runs Thursday, May 9-Sunday, May 12. Tickets are for sale (online or by phone at 686-8742) in advance only, through May 9. $184 adults/$153 kids ages 10-17 for Thursday-Sunday with camping. $159/$134 Friday-Sunday with camping. $106/$94 Friday-Sunday no camping. $47/$38 Friday evening or Sunday day only, no camping. $57/$50 Saturday only, no camping. Parking is $5 per vehicle with free shuttle.

Mountain Xpress: NPR called you “ever-evolving,” and your solo albums to date have covered a lot of ground, from jazz and folk to pop and gospel. Do you feel like that kind of evolution is who you are — your sound — or do you see you see yourself settling into one genre?
Lizz Wright: My relationship with music is a living thing, as well as the conversation with the audience. Evolution is how I know that they’re still thriving. Historically, the roots of gospel, folk, and jazz are deep and intersecting, and so I am but one of many artists who openly displays the familial relationships between these genres. I’ve found a way to explore the world and communicate with it through music. When I lose curiosity I’ll know that I’m not in love anymore.

To read more click here

Lizz Wright: Deeply Rooted

IMN

January 2nd, 2013

From iRock Jazz

Lizz Wright: Deeply Rooted
By: Iya Bakare

Whether it’s music or cuisine, Lizz Wright says she desires for all of her creations to be an extension of her life and her latest project, Fellowship, is no exception. In her fourth project, the artist fused her Gospel roots with her homage to the work of contemporary artists Meshell Ndegeocello, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and others. With the focus to stay true to who she is and her music, the artist admits she’s hesitant to pursue anything she can’t give her all, despite the needs of the market.

“I wanted to do a Jimi Hendrix project because I deeply appreciate his poetry, fell in love with it and who he is as a person, but I didn’t have enough life experience for it,” Wright confesses. “This has been a lesson about the needs and demands of the market.”

In a market where tight deadlines are inevitable, the artist says she manages to meet them as she continues to dwell in the body of her music.

“To live in the body of music, you need to be in the body of music because there’s an art to placement, which is the difference in making a CD and performing in a live show because you can improvise in a live show,” Wright adds.

Read the full article here

Lizz Wright: Leben, um davon zu singen

IMN

November 12th, 2012

From Hamburger Abendblatt

Lizz Wright: Leben, um davon zu singen
By: Henry Oehmsen

“Fellowship” heißt ins Deutsche übersetzt “Gemeinschaft”. Lizz Wright, die 32 Jahre alte Tochter eines Predigers aus Georgia, hat ihr viertes Album “Fellowship” genannt. Gemeinschaft ist ihr vertraut, denn sie wuchs in einer religiös geprägten Familie im Süden der USA auf. Sie erinnert sich an die vielen Sonntage, wenn die afroamerikanischen Familien in die Kirche ihres Vaters im Städtchen Hahira strömten, um seine Predigt zu hören, und sie selbst im Gospelchor mitsang. Diese frühen Erfahrungen haben die Jazz-Sängerin nachhaltig geprägt, auf ihrem bislang letzten Album widmet sie sich dem klassischen Gospelsong. “Da, wo ich herkomme, hat der Gospel seine tiefsten und mächtigsten Wurzeln. Er ist die Basis meiner Musik”, sagt sie.

Das Album “Fellowship” enthält auch ein Gospel-Medley mit sechs traditionellen Songs, die Lizz Wright neu arrangiert hat, das Lied “Sweeping Through The City” basiert auf Versen aus dem Matthäus-Evangelium, und auch das längst zu einem Standard gewordene “Amazing Grace” singt Wright mit ihrer volltönenden Stimme. Doch es finden sich auch Songs auf diesem Album, die von anderen Künstlern bekannt gemacht worden sind und die Lizz Wright covert. “Presence Of The Lord”, von Eric Clapton für die Supergroup Blind Faith geschrieben, packt sie genauso in ein sakrales Gewand wie “In From The Storm” von Jimi Hendrix. Mit anderen Vokalistinnen wie Angelique Kidjo, Me’shell Ndegeocello und Joan As Police Woman traf sie sich und nahm deren Songs gemeinsam mit ihnen auf. “Dieses Mal bin ich mit einer klaren Absicht ins Studio gegangen, ich wollte Musik für meine Familie machen”, erzählt die Sängerin.

To read more click here

Lizz Wright & Terri Lyne Carrington On The Future Of Jazz

IMN

September 24th, 2012

From A Blog Supreme/NPR Jazz

On The Future Of Jazz Among Black Folk
By: Patrick Jarenwattananon

Every year, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation throws a concert and panel discussion as part of its annual conference. It’s notable not only as a musical event — this year’s show features drummer Terri Lyne Carrington’s take on the classic album Money Jungle, featuring vocalist Lizz Wright, as well as alto saxophonist Antonio Hart’s quintet with special guest Jimmy Heath — but also as a cultural one. In this century, anyway, it’s become surprisingly uncommon to see documentation of black jazz artists performing for primarily black audiences.

By the time you read this, the concert will be transpiring or over. But earlier in the day, many of its star musicians and a few distinguished authors assembled for a forum in a cramped Washington Conference Center boardroom. Around 100 to 150 people — the majority African-American, in business attire and middle-aged — were in the house for a discussion titled “If You Really Are Concerned: An African-American Agenda for Jazz.” It took its title from a Billy Taylor song, the last stanza of which goes:

If you really are concerned, then show it
If you really want to help, you can
But you’d better start right now
By making changes when you’re able
Or your world will disappear

To read more click here

VIDEO: Lizz Wright and Raul Midón in Wiesen, Austria

IMN

July 25th, 2012

from Firstpost

Lizz Wright & Raul Midon [Nova Jazz & Blues Night, Wiesen 2012-07-21

Lizz Wright headlined a double bill with the equally talented singer-songwriter Raul Midón at the Nova Jazz & Blues Night 2012 in Wiesen, Austria.

Watch the video here

Lizz Wright Sings Her Way Back Home

IMN

March 20th, 2012

from San Francisco Chronicle

Lizz Wright sings her way back home to the country
By Lee Hildebrand

When Lizz Wright left her family home in rural Hihira, Ga., a dozen or so years ago to live in a big city and become a jazz singer, she escaped her evangelist father’s strict rules, including not being allowed to listen to secular music, as well as the quarter-acre backyard garden she worked in, often reluctantly.

She spent time in Atlanta, Seattle and, for six years, Brooklyn. Yet, as her recording and performing career progressed with four CDs that increasingly moved away from jazz into an eclectic, gracefully rendered mix of material associated with artists including Neil Young, Ike and Tina Turner, Led Zeppelin, Patsy Cline and children’s singer Ella Jenkins, along with her own compositions, she began yearning to get back to a simpler side of life.

With her third album, 2008’s “The Orchard,” she announced her intention to return to the country. Her current Verve Forecast release, last year’s “Fellowship,” was made after she moved back South in 2009 and created a garden of her own filled with root vegetables and leafy greens. Besides tunes by Me’Shell N’Degeocello, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Eric Clapton, Angelique Kidjo and Jimi Hendrix, “Fellowship” includes “Amazing Grace,” “God Specializes,” “Sweeping Through the City” and other hymns and gospel songs she grew up singing in her father’s storefront church.

“I sang my way back home,” Wright, 32, says by phone from her home in the mountains near Asheville, N.C. “I have physically and mentally moved myself back to a style of living and a way of being that’s closer to who I am and that is more sustaining. I’ve always loved the woods, and I’ve always loved gardening and a lot of solitude and quiet.”

Wright, who will appear with her four-piece band March 21 at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore and March 23 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, has cut back on her touring schedule since relocating to North Carolina. She tries not to be away from home for more than two weeks at a time.

“I don’t do as many concerts in a row as I used to, but when I show up, I’m very excited and very present,” she says. “I feel a lot stronger and just more grateful.”

Read the full article here

REVIEW: Lizz Wright in Malaga, Spain

IMN

November 28th, 2011

From Modernicolas

De la tierra al cielo con Lizz Wright

Afuera el cielo tronaba, enfurecido bramaba, y sollozaba en forma de torrentes de agua. Adentro, sonaba una voz venida del cielo, forjada en la Tierra, que sosegaba las almas que huían del temporal. Nadie nos podía haber dicho que una noche con Lizz Wright valían por años de yoga, pilates y meditación oriental. Quizás exageré, quizás no, pero puedo asegurar que tras sentir (literalmente) a esta mujer, el mundo parecía ganar a la par en belleza que en sosiego.

Ella no pertenece a la nobleza, pero tiene tres títulos. Vino a Málaga este sábado para cerrar su gira española. La llaman la dama de la canción sureña, del jazz, y, por si fuera poco, de la música americana. Lizz Wright se crió bajo la cerca mirada de Dios, en la Iglesia que su padre era predicador y en la que, junto a su madre y hermanos, dedicó domingos a cantos celestiales. Eran tiempos diferentes en la pequeña ciudad de Georgia, Estados Unidos, donde Lizz se nutrió de los sonidos del gospel. Ahora tiene 31 años, cuatro discos en solitario, y una capacidad para emocionar con el único arma de su talento natural.

Para desarrollar este don, la intérprete eligió el jazz –lo tuvo prohibido durante años-, para alejarse de la música del coro de la Iglesia. Ahí demostró, y bien que mostró en Málaga, que las canciones jazzeras emanaban de su garganta con una naturalidad que sorprendió a la entonces joven Lizz. Ávida y segura, probó suerte después con el blues, el folk y los ritmos afro-americanos, en recuerdo de sus raíces. Una voz la de esta dama americana que dejó al Auditorio de la Diputación sin aliento, conmocionado por la versatilidad y energía al interpretar de Lizz.

VIDEO: Lizz Wright at Temporada Alta, TV3 Barcelona, Spain

IMN

November 26th, 2011

Do not miss this video of Lizz Wright’s appearance on Catalan television TV3 after her show in Girona, Spain this past month!

Watch it here

No et perdis aquest video de TV3 de la cantant Lizz Wright a Girona aquest passat Novembre!

Mira’l aqui

REVIEW: Lizz Wright, distinción en la apertura del ciclo de jazz de la Diputación

IMN

November 10th, 2011

From Malaga Hoy

Lizz Wright, distinción en la apertura del ciclo de jazz de la Diputación

El nuevo ciclo de la Diputación Jazz en Málaga inauguró ayer su primera edición en el Auditorio de la entidad provincial con la actuación de la cantante estadounidense Lizz Wright, uno de los más firmes valores del rhythm & blues en la actualidad, que puso una auténtica nota de distinción a la noche lluviosa que se respiraba en Málaga. La de la Wright fue la primera actuación de un programa que se desarrollará hasta el próximo 3 de diciembre en varios espacios de la ciudad y que incluye, además de conciertos, conferencias y proyecciones de documentales. La próximo actuación correrá a cargo del guitarrista australiano Tommy Emmanuel, que participa durante estos días en varios festivales de jazz de España y que comparecerá el próximo domingo 27 también en el Auditorio provincial. Del resto del cartel convocado destacan la banda Parkerland Nonet, Ernesto Aurignac y el dúo Silvia Pérez Cruz & Javier Colina.

No te pierdas a LIZZ WRIGHT en el Festival de Jazz de Madrid

IMN

November 6th, 2011

From Radio Gladys Palmera

LIZZ WRIGHT Y RODRIGO Y GABRIELA, JUNTOS PERO NO REVUELTOS

La noche del 17 de noviembre el Festival de Jazz de Madrid propone dos planes muy apetecibles
By: Celia Jerez

El Festival de Jazz de Madrid tiene lugar desde el 2 de noviembre hasta el 4 de diciembre en diferentes ubicaciones con un programa que incluye a artistas de todo el mundo, esta edición además presta especial interés a la fusión entre el jazz y el flamenco.

Dentro del programa del festival, Lizz Wright y Rodrigo y Gabriela comparten la noche del 17 de noviembre, aunque no escenario, dos conciertos muy recomendables aunque incompatibles, son a la misma hora.

En el Teatro Fernán Gómez estará actuando en vivo Lizz Wright presentando su último álbum, Fellowship, un guiño a sus raíces gospel con las creció cantando en la iglesia, como buena hija de pastor, y a su eclecticismo sonoro en el que encontramos influencias de Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton o Joan Wasser de Joan as Police Woman.

To read more click here

Lizz Wright en el Cartagena Jazz Festival

IMN

November 5th, 2011

From ElPais.com

Lizz Wright y otros talentos en el Cartagena Jazz FestivalS

By: Alfonso Cardenal

Es difícil pensar que cuando Ernest Hoffmann dijo que “la música empieza donde se acaba el lenguaje”, estuviese pensando en Lizz Wright. Una lástima. Varios siglos los separan. Pero sin duda su cita resulta de lo más acertada. Lizz Wright (1980) sorprendió a todo Chicago en uno de tantos festivales conmemorativos a Billie Holiday. Una adolescente desconocida que robaba lágrimas rememorando a la genial intérprete. Desde entonces, su vida ha cambiado. Como hija de un predicador, su primera escuela musical fue la Iglesia de su padre, años después la fichaba el mítico selle Verve. El propio dueño de la discográfica producía su debut profesional en 2003. Salt llegó al número dos de las listas de éxitos de jazz.

Dos años después alcanzaba lo más alto de las listas con su segundo álbum Dreaming wide awake. Su profunda voz, la pasión que le pone al cantar y un enfoque moderno del jazz, la han convertido en poco tiempo en toda una referencia. Este 2008 publicó su tercer disco, The Orchard. Un nuevo tanto para esta joven cantante estadounidense.

Ahora se presenta en el Cartagena Jazz Festival a demostrar toda su valía. Y lo hace rodeada de un gran elenco de artistas de diversos estilos. La 28ª edición de este veterano festival que comenzó el 7 de noviembre viene marcada por la heterodoxia, con la combinación de jazz clásico y vanguardista. Todo un lujo de festival en el que ya han actuado Matthew Herbert o el pianista panameño Danilo Pérez.

To read more click here

Lizz Wright abre en noviembre una nueva cita con el jazz en la Diputación de Granada

IMN

November 1st, 2011

From Radio Malaga Hoy

Lizz Wright abre en noviembre una nueva cita con el jazz en la Diputación

By: Rocio Armas

Noviembre es el mes del jazz, al menos en Andalucía. El festival de Granada, el ciclo que celebra el Teatro Cervantes y el Echegaray en Málaga y, ahora, el que propone la Diputación, con cinco conciertos, proyecciones y conferencias – que se cuelan en tres días de diciembre – y con el incuestionable nombre de Lizz Wright, como cabeza de cartel. El próximo día 19, la cantante norteamericana, considerada una de las grandes voces del R&B del momento, se subirá al auditorio de la calle Pacífico para presentar Fellowship, un viaje ecléctico desde sus raíces gospel hasta el rock más venerado. “Es todo un privilegio tenerla aquí”, reseñó ayer Javier Domínguez, coordinador de un festival que cuenta hasta el 3 de diciembre con más nombres propios: los de Tommy Emmanuel, Pakerland, Ernesto Aurignac, Silvia Pérez Cruz y Colina.

El jazz australiano de Emmanuel, que “ sigue la tradición de los grades maestros de la guitarra “, se subirá al escenario el 27 de noviembre. Los nueve músicos andaluces de Pakerland harán lo propio el 1 de diciembre “reinterpretando el sonido de Charlie Parker”. Por su parte, el quinteto del malagueño Ernesto Aurignac -que también acude al ciclo del Cervantes irrumpe al día siguiente para rescatar bandas sonoras de clásicos del cine. Y cerrarán el ciclo de actuaciones “una catalana y un cántabro”, matizó Javier Domínguez para referirse a Silvia Pérez y Javier Colina y sus ritmos cubanos.

To read more click here

IMN Artists at 25th Red Sea International Jazz Festival

IMN

August 2nd, 2011

From Jazztimes.com

25th Red Sea International Jazz Festival Coming to Israel Aug. 21-24 festival will feature Jason Moran, Gretchen Parlato, Eddie Palmieri, others

By Jeff Tamarkin

The 25th annual Red Sea International Jazz Festival will take place at the seaside resort town of Eilat in Israel from August 21-24.

This year’s festival will feature performances from more than 20 Israeli and international groups, including Eddie Palmieri Y La Perfecta II (U.S.), Grégoire Maret (Switzerland) and the Gilad Abro Trio (Israel), Gretchen Parlato, Lizz Wright, Raul Midon, Jason Moran and the Bandwagon, among others. The festival will also include a screening of Cinema Jazz, a film comprised of festival performances from the past 25 years, and a photography exhibit showcasing some of the festival’s greatest moments.

To read the full article click HERE

Lizz Wright: Mountain Stage Broadcast

IMN

August 2nd, 2011

Lizz Wright’s appearance at Mountain Stage will be re-broadcast August 5th, 2011. Air times vary by station, a complete list of which can be found here

The following week, Wright’s set will be posted at NPR.org/mountainstage and archived for continued access, allowing anyone who missed the broadcast to access the show.

For more information about Wright’s appearance at Mountain Stage, click here

Lizz Wright: NPR Tiny Desk Concert

IMN

March 17th, 2011

from NPR
By Stephen Thompson
Filmed and edited by Michael Katzif; photo by Abby Verbosky/NPR

Lizz Wright: Tiny Desk Concert

She hasn’t yet broken out commercially in a big way, but singer Lizz Wright has long seemed poised to follow in the platinum-selling, Grammy-festooned footsteps of Tracy Chapman, Norah Jones and other contemporary singers who infuse elements of blues and folk music with jazzy, smoky soul. Raised on church music in Georgia, Wright is well-versed in the freedom songs of Sweet Honey in the Rock, without whom none of the music here would exist; “I Remember, I Believe” is by that group’s leader, the great Bernice Johnson Reagon, whose daughter Toshi Reagon (Wright’s best friend) co-wrote “Hit the Ground.”

In this short but satisfying two-song set at the NPR Music offices, the ever-evolving Wright channels the gospel of her past (as she does on last year’s Fellowship) while remaining coolly understated. It helps, of course, that she’s got a subtly crafty band with her: guitarist Robin Macatangay, bassist Nicholas D’Amato and drummer Brannen Temple, who MacGyvers some Tiny Desk-friendly percussion instruments out of an upturned wastebasket and a pizza box, among other detritus. The result is a sweet surprise: as spiritually uplifting as it is graceful, grounded and unmistakably cool.

Watch the video here

Confirmed Tourdates As Of

IMN

July 17th, 2013: Theatre de la Mer Sete, France [Lizz Wright]
October 24th, 2013: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts St. Paul, MN USA [Lizz Wright and Raul Midon]
October 25th, 2013: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts St. Paul, MN USA [Lizz Wright and Raul Midon]
November 14th, 2013: Kulturzentrum kammgarn Kaiserslautern, Germany [Lizz Wright with Gregory Porter]
November 15th, 2013: Cirkus Krone Munich, Germany [Lizz Wright with Gregory Porter]
November 16th, 2013: Konzerthaus Dortmund, Germany [Lizz Wright with Gregory Porter]
November 18th, 2013: Heidelberg Stadthalle Heidelberg, Germany [Lizz Wright with Gregory Porter]
November 19th, 2013: Alte Oper Frankfurt an Main, Germany [Lizz Wright with Gregory Porter]
November 20th, 2013: Theater Am Aegi Hannover, Germany [Lizz Wright with Gregory Porter]
November 21st, 2013: Kammermusiksaal Berlin, Germany [Lizz Wright with Gregory Porter]
November 23rd, 2013: Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Germany [Lizz Wright with Gregory Porter]
November 24th, 2013: Die Glocke Bremen, Germany [Lizz Wright with Gregory Porter]
November 25th, 2013: Tonhalle Dusseldorf Dusseldorf, Germany [Lizz Wright with Gregory Porter]