Lizz Wright - The Orchard [2008] Bonus Tracks

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While Wright wows in concert, her studio endeavors have lacked a consistent vitality and depth. But on her third album, "The Orchard," Wright finds her recording voice, singing with enthralling authority. The CD's eight originals and four covers mesh into an engaging showcase for Wright's gospel-infused, full-bodied contralto. She has top-tier help, with best supporting roles going to Toshi Reagon, who co-wrote six tunes, and producer Craig Street, whose penchant for breaking free of traditional jazz confines by bringing in gospel, blues and Americana sensibilities provides the backdrop. "The Orchard" is an album of seeking (for home, love, acceptance, respect) where Wright reflects ("Speak Your Heart") and breaks free (the charged, funk-inflected "Leave Me Standing Alone"). Best cover: Wright's gripping seduction of Ike & Tina's "I Idolize You."

- billboard.com

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Wright's collaboration with Craig Street continues on The Orchard. While her prior releases boasted contributions from some of the jazz world's most respected jazz players, The Orchard features an eclectic cast that includes noted singer/songwriter Toshi Reagon, who co-wrote several songs with Wright; Calexico members Joey Burns and John Convertino; avant-guitar hero Oren Bloedow; longtime Bob Dylan sideman Larry Campbell; Ollabelle member Glenn Patscha; and guest vocalists Catherine Russell and Marc Anthony Thompson (aka Chocolate Genius).

The Orchard's fluid, intimate performances reflect the unpretentious spirit in which the music was created. The project actually began with a set of photographs taken by Wright in her rural hometown, focusing on the orchard of the title, a setting that she's known since childhood.

That organic approach was maintained throughout the recording process, which took place at studios in upstate New York's Catskill mountains, in Tucson, Arizona and Brooklyn. The sessions emphasized spontaneity and chemistry.

That rare ability to exist within the musical moment is one of the qualities that make Lizz Wright a special artist and The Orchard a career milestone. "This record was a huge learning experience, in every way, and I think it showed me a lot about myself," she states. "I never would have imagined that I would have written some of the things I wrote on this record, or told some of these stories. But I felt really free and I really let myself go, and I surprised myself."

- amazon.com

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On the cover of Lizz Wright's third album, the Georgia native stands in the middle of a fertile field surrounded by lush, ready-to-blossom plants. It's the perfect image for this bountiful album from an artist who has reached full bloom and should finally attract the large audience she deserves.
Working again with producer Craig Street, Wright moves further away from the accessible jazz of her 2003 debut "Salt" and toward contemporary soul with without sacrificing any of her music's sensuality or spare beauty. Songs like the "I Idolize You" and "Speak Your Heart" are mature songs about love and desire, while "When I Fall" has a spiritual quality that's grounded in reality.
Working with rock and acoustic music veterans as she did on her second CD, 2005's folk-tinged "Dreaming Wide Awake," Wright keeps the emphasis on her smoky, expressive alto. The music is often as languid as a hot day on a Mississippi pond or a warm night outdoors amid silk curtains and tender breezes.
Wright, like Norah Jones and Diana Krall, takes a jazz sensibility and makes it accessible without compromising her artful style. With "The Orchard," she deserves to reach the high-profile stature of those two contemporaries.
CHECK THIS OUT: "This Is" blends nylon-string classical guitar, African percussion and down-home organ to create a steamy, impressionistic atmosphere that perfectly envelopes Wright's voice.

- McLean's Magazine

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The largely self-penned The Orchard finds Wright mining her own experience to create an unmistakably personal musical statement. The warmth and resonance of Wright's gospel-trained contralto is matched by the intimacy and authority of such original compositions as "Coming Home," "My Heart," "Another Angel" and "When I Fall." Wright's interpretive skills are equally impressive on revelatory readings of the Ike and Tina Turner classic "I Idolize You," Sweet Honey in the Rock's "Hey Mann," the Led Zeppelin ballad "Thank You" and Patsy Cline’s haunting "Strange."

- Verve Music


Artist: Lizz Wright
Album: The Orchard
Date Of Release: 2008
Genre: Adult Alternative, Acoustic, Vocal
Bitrate: VBR --alt-preset extreme