Elizabeth LaCharla Wright (born January 22, 1980) professionally known as Lizz Wright, is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

singer.

Early life and education

Wright was born in the small town of Hahira, which is northwest of Valdosta,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, one of three children and the daughter of a minister and the musical director of their church. She started singing

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

and playing

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

as a child, and became interested in

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

. She attended Houston County High School in Warner Robins, Georgia, where she was in choral singing and received the National Choral Award. She went to

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

to study singing. Then she studied at

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and in Vancouver, BC.

Career

Wright joined the In the Spirit in 2000, a vocal quartet based in Atlanta; in 2002 she signed a recording contract with

Verve Records Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ca ...

. Her musical compositions and vocal style have led to her being compared to

Norah Jones Norah Jones ( ; born Geethali Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has won several awards for her music and, , has sold more than 53 million records worldwide. '' Billboard'' named her the top jazz artist of ...

. Her first album, ''

Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

'', was released in the spring of 2003 and reached No. 2 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top Contemporary Jazz The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart in 2004. Her next release was a jazz and pop blend incorporating

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

. '' Dreaming Wide Awake'' was released in June 2005 and was No. 1 on the Top Contemporary Jazz chart in 2005 and 2006. In 2008, Wright released '' The Orchard'' to positive reviews. She released her fourth album, ''

Fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

'', in 2010. Most of the songs on ''Fellowship'' are gospel standards.

Personal life

Wright is married to arts administrator Monica Haslip.

Discography

* ''

'' (Verve, 2003) * '' Dreaming Wide Awake'' (Verve Forecast, 2005) * '' The Orchard'' (Verve Forecast, 2008) * ''

'' (Verve Forecast, 2010) * '' Freedom & Surrender'' (Concord, 2015) * ''Grace'' (Concord, 2017) * ''Holding Space'' (Blues & Greens, 2022) * ''Shadow'' (Lightyear, 2024)

As guest

* "No One but Myself to Blame" and "Fool's Gold" on ''The Pecan Tree'' by

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American jazz keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, whose name was shortened to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained a p ...

(2002) * "...Till Then" and " The Fiddle and the Drum" on ''...Till Then'' by

Danilo Pérez Danilo Pérez (born December 29, 1966) is a Panamanian pianist, composer, educator, and a social activist. His music is a blend of Panamanian roots with elements of Latin American folk music, jazz, European impressionism, African, and other mu ...

(2003) * " Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" on ''Closer'' by

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age o ...

(2005) * "

Come Rain or Come Shine "Come Rain or Come Shine" is a popular music song and jazz standard with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was written for the Broadway musical '' St. Louis Woman'', which opened on March 30, 1946, and closed after 113 perfor ...

" on ''One More for the Road'' by

Toots Thielemans Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...

(2006) * "Freedom" (backing vocals) on ''

Supply and Demand In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a Market (economics), market. It postulates that, Ceteris_paribus#Applications, holding all else equal, the unit price for a particular Good (economics), good ...

'' by

Amos Lee Amos Lee (born Ryan Anthony Massaro, June 22, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter whose musical style encompasses folk music, folk, rock music, rock, and Soul music, soul. Lee has recorded five albums on Blue Note Records and has toured as ...

(2006) * " Reaching for the Moon" with Regina Carter and Russell Malone on '' We All Love Ella: Celebrating the First Lady of Song'' (2007) * " Whispering Pines", a duet with

Jakob Dylan Jakob Luke Dylan (born December 9, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter. He rose to fame as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and principal songwriter of the rock band the Wallflowers, which he formed in 1989. Born in New York City to musician Bo ...

produced by Joe Henry for '' Endless Highway: The Music of The Band'' (2007) * "Stillness: Winterhouse" on ''Persona'' by

Massimo Biolcati Massimo Biolcati (born 1972) is a Swedish-Italian-American jazz bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (s ...

(2008) * " I Wish I Knew (How It Feels to Be Free)" with pianist Takana Miyamoto and Marcus Printup on ''Promises Made: The Millennium Promise Jazz Project'' produced by Kirk Whalum (2008) * "

A Change Is Gonna Come "A Change Is Gonna Come" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. It initially appeared on Cooke's album '' Ain't That Good News'', released mid-February 1964 by RCA Victor; a slightly edited version of the recording was released as a s ...

" on

Nordstrom's Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a second location ...

''The Royal Blues: Celebrating the Queens of Blues and Jazz'' (2009) * " Nobody's Fault but Mine" on '' Pour une âme souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone'' by Meshell Ndegeocello (2012) * "Backward Country Boy Blues" by

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Terri Lyne Carrington Terri Lyne Carrington (born August 4, 1965) is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets (band), ...

's '' Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue'' (2013) * "When I Found You" by

Patrice Rushen Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist, R&B singer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director. At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards, her 1982 single, "Forget Me Nots", received a no ...

on Terri Lyne Carrington's ''The Mosaic Project: Love and Soul'' (2015) * "This Song in Me", co-written by Wright with producer Derrick Hodge for ''We Are the Drum'' by Kendrick Scott Oracle (2015) * "Om Sweet Om" on ''Taj Mo'' by

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

and

Keb' Mo' Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician. He is a singer, guitarist and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that tra ...

(2017) * "Take Me Home" by José James for his album ''No Beginning No End 2'' (2020)

References

Sources and external links

Official website

"Portrait of the artist: Lizz Wright, singer"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Lizz American LGBTQ singers 1980 births Living people 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers American ballad musicians American contraltos American gospel singers American jazz singers American women jazz singers Concord Records artists People from Hahira, Georgia Singers from Georgia (U.S. state) Smooth jazz singers Verve Records artists