Lizz Wright

The Orchard

2008-03-03

Singer Lizz Wright Tries to Keep Things Simple on Her New Album Jazz vocalist Lizz Wright decided it was time to return to her roots. For her new CD, she tried to capture the simplicity of the blues and gospel music she heard growing up in the rural town of Hahira, Ga. The daughter of a minister, she sang in church there with her two siblings. "I come from a place where we don't use a lot of words," Ms. Wright says. "It's really about emoting." On "The Orchard," Ms. Wright wanted to make a personal statement, co-writing eight of the new album's 12 tracks. The album has a looser feel than Ms. Wright's previous releases. Like "Dreaming Wide Awake," it was produced by Craig Street, who has worked with Cassandra Wilson and k.d. lang. Other musicians on "The Orchard" include Toshi Reagon, who co-wrote many of the songs, and guitarist and longtime Bob Dylan sideman Larry Campbell. The songs range from the slow-building, moody "Coming Home," which kicks off the compilation, to a rapturous folk waltz, "Song for Mia." Ms. Wright worked on "The Orchard" for about two years, spending the first in Georgia visiting her grandparents, "taking in a lot of information, looking at my home and just collecting feelings," she says. For her new CD, she tried to capture the simplicity of the blues and gospel music she heard growing up in the rural town of Hahira, Ga. The daughter of a minister, she sang in church there with her two siblings. "I come from a place where we don't use a lot of words," Ms. Wright says. 'It's really about emoting.'" - ROBERT J. HUGHES, Wall Street Journal February 22, 2008