Lizz Wright
Biography by MacKenzie Wilson
Vocalist Lizz Wright delivers a sultry R&B performance that's divinely layered in gospel and jazz, and keenly similar to the work of Oleta Adams and Jill Scott. Wright was born in early 1980 in the Georgia town of Hahira, and her musical tastes blossomed early on. Her father served as the pianist and musical director at the local church, and he encouraged his daughter to absorb the soulful dispositions of classic hymns. Eventually, blues and jazz were added to Wright's musical plate, and by high school she was earning awards in countless choir competitions. Wright was coming into her warm, smooth singing voice, so her decision to attend Georgia State in Atlanta to study voice at a professional level wasn't surprising. Atlanta became her home and her voice became her solace. In 2000, Wright joined the vocal quartet In the Spirit. The group was quickly hailed as the best jazz group in the city, motivating Wright to hone her craft all the more. Two years later, Verve inked Wright a deal. Her impressive singing style was captured on her debut, Salt, the following spring. Dreaming Wide Awake followed in June 2005.
Год - Альбом - Чарт - Пиковое место
2003 Salt - Heatseekers - №23
2003 Salt - Top Contemporary Jazz Albums - №2
2003 Salt - Top Heatseekers - №23
2004 Salt - Top Contemporary Jazz - № 2
2005 Dreaming Wide Awake - European Top 100 Albums
2005 Dreaming Wide Awake - Top Contemporary Jazz - №1
2005 Dreaming Wide Awake - Top Heatseekers - №10
2005 Dreaming Wide Awake - Top Internet Albums - №207
2006 Dreaming Wide Awake - Top Contemporary Jazz - №1
Chart information courtesy of Billboard.com © 2005 VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Lizz Wright
Dreaming Wide Awake
Дата релиза: 14 июня 2005
Дата записи: 27 октября 2004 - 5 декабря 2004
Рекорд лэйбл: Verve
Общее время звучания: 49.33 мин
Качество: EAC, mp3, 320 kbps, 44100 Hz, 16 bit joint stereo
Размер архива: 112 Мб
Review by Jonathan Widran
The smoky, sizzlingly soulful rural Georgian created an immediate and well-deserved critical firestorm with her 2003 debut Salt; the L.A. Times wasn't overstating it when they said, "She walked onstage at the Hollywood Bowl a virtual unknown...Fifteen minutes later, she walked off a star." Like her more (so far, but maybe not for long) renowned labelmate Diana Krall, Lizz Wright is a brilliant interpreter who can cover rock classics (Neil Young's "Old Man," the Youngbloods' "Get Together") as if they were fresh new generational statements, and even give an emotional urgency to fluffy classics like "A Taste of Honey" (done all swampy here). She even works wonders with her transcendent twist on Ella Jenkins' "Wake Up Little Sparrow," turning the tune into a meditation on the bluesy realities of love. But she is also an inspired songwriter in her own "wright," creating the resonating and heartrending, Norah Jones-like "Hit the Ground," with Jones' writer Jesse Harris, and other instantly seductive tracks like a soaring "Trouble" (the first song she ever wrote on guitar) and hauntingly dark title tune. These latter two, easily on par with the original material, shouldn't be so deep in the mix, and Wright should definitely include more originals as time goes on. Clearly aware that he has a future legend with a one in a million voice on his hands — and that anything getting in the way of that intimate emotional connection would be criminal — producer Craig Street provides only the sparsest and down-home of productions.
Amazon.com
Lizz Wright’s sophomore release, Dreaming Wide Awake is a gorgeous, floating atmospheric journey. Her deep, rich alto, matched by a similarly incredible depth of emotion, makes for a beautiful, timeless record. Highlights include a bluegrass-tinged cover of Neil Young’s "Old Man," a gorgeously sultry version of Joe Henry’s "Stop" (better known as "Don’t Tell Me," as covered by Madonna), and the Youngbloods' positivity-tipped "Get Together." But not all highlights are cover tunes. Wright, along with songwriter Jesse Harris and Toshi Reagon, created the achingly beautiful "Hit the Ground," while Chocolate Genius (a.k.a. Marc Anthony Thompson) scribed "Chasing Strange," and Wright penned the jazz-tinged title track on her own. --
Denise Sheppard
Трэклист
01. A Taste of Honey [Marlow, Scott]
02. Stop [Henry]
03. Hit the Ground [Harris, Reagon, Wright]
04. When I Close My Eyes [Bowne, Honda, Thompson]
05. I'm Confessin' [Daugherty, Neiburg, Reynolds]
06. Old Man [Young]
07. Wake Up, Little Sparrow [Jenkins]
08. Chasing Strange [Thompson]
09. Get Together [Powers]
10. Trouble [Henderson, Wright]
11. Dreaming Wide Awake [Wright]
12. Without You [Harris]
13. Narrow Daylight [bonustrack]
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