Lizz Wright
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Lizz Wright (born January 22, 1980) is an American jazz singer and composer.
Wright was born in the small town of Hahira, Georgia, one of three children and the daughter of a minister. She started singing gospel music and playing piano in church as a child, and also became interested in jazz and blues. She attended Houston County High School, where she was heavily involved in choral singing, receiving the National Choral Award. She went on to Georgia State University in Atlanta to study singing. Since then she has studied at The New School in New York, and in Vancouver.
Wright joined the Atlanta-based vocal quartet In the Spirit in 2000, which soon achieved critical acclaim, and in 2002 she signed a recording contact with Verve Records, where her soul-meets-jazz-pop stylings immediately earned favorable comparisons to Anita Baker, Regina Belle, Cassandra Wilson and Tracy Chapman.
- Her first album, Salt was released in the Spring of 2003 (and reached number two on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz chart in 2004), followed by Dreaming Wide Awake in June 2005 (which reached number one on the Top Contemporary Jazz chart in 2005 and 2006).
On the 8th February 2008 Lizz announced two headlining shows at the London Soho Revue Bar on the 20th & 21st April.
[edit] Solo Releases
- Salt – 2003
- Dreaming Wide Awake – 2005
- The Orchard – February 5, 2008
[edit] Guest Vocals
- "No One But Myself to Blame" and "Fool's Gold" on The Pecan Tree by Joe Sample (2002)
- "...Till Then" and "Fiddle and the Drum" on ...Till Then by Danilo Perez (2003)
- "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" on Closer by David Sanborn (2005)
- "Come Rain or Come Shine" on One More For the Road by Toots Thielemans (2006)
- "Freedom" on Supply and Demand by Amos Lee (2006) [back vocals]
- "Reaching for the Moon" on We All Love Ella. Celebrating the First Lady of Song (2007)
- "Whispering Pines (with Jakob Dylan)" on Endless Highway-A Tribute to the Band) (2007)
- "Stillness: Winterhouse" on Persona by Massimo Biolcati (2008)
[edit] Sources and external links
- Lizz Wright's official Web site
- Verve Records' pages
- Lizz Wright — introduction by MacKenzie Wilson for the All Music Guide
- Lizz Wright Biography
