Known for weaving gospel, jazz and pop to country and blues into her music, Lizz Wright has continued that tradition on her newest album, “Freedom & Surrender,” which she considers a reflection of where she currently is in her life.
“You’re hearing the eclecticism that is something I can’t even escape because it’s really who I am and what my life is like, but you’re also hearing my acceptance of it,” says the Georgia native.
Released five years after her gospel album “Fellowship,” “Freedom & Surrender” is Wright’s fifth album and first on Concord Records. The album, which was produced by Grammy-winning producer Larry Klein, debuted on September 4 and is already at #1 Jazz and #10 overall on Amazon and #1 on iTunes Jazz.
Wright, who grew up singing in the church with her family, wrote ten of the 15 songs on the album and describes this project as having grit and vulnerability that she allows both in the writing and in the singing.
“There’s more range of color coming out of me and I did a little more writing because I wanted to step forward as myself,” says the singer/songwriter.
She further adds, “I don’t think I need to hide behind a genre, an idea, or even the way of my own personal history. I want to be able to write what I actually have in me. I think as artists we’re not here to necessarily keep something going that’s already happened. I think I just embraced myself and allowed myself to really use my full range.”
Being able to tap into her full range came in part from singing in the church as a child with her family. It offered a training ground for the young singer who would end up singing professionally as an adult. “Within the church you get to practice, putting music in order, and arranging music specifically for the emotional impact that it’s supposed to have and the environment it’s supposed to create. It’s such a constant study of practice, but of course, I didn’t see any of that until I was not there anymore.”
And now the pastor’s daughter, whose singing was a natural expression of communicating with her family growing up, is singing professionally and traveling all over the world sharing her talent and her music. But she still considers herself “Lizz, the home girl.” She describes the sentiment as “I still feel like the same girl who showed up with all the same people and I still feel like I’m visiting my friends when I go on tour. I realize that making the connection personal, and simple, and level allows me to do what I’ve always been doing and that makes it feel real enough to me.”
