Lizz Wright is one of the great voices of modern American music. With her warm, dark alto – described by The New York Times as “soft as leather and rich as aged bourbon” – she knows better than anyone how to bring together soul, jazz, gospel and folk. For more than twenty years, she has been touching audiences worldwide with music that revolves around humanity, love and connection.
Wright grew up in Georgia, where she first encountered singing and call-and-response traditions in her father's church. That background still forms the basis of her recognisable, spiritual sound. At a young age, she made her national breakthrough with a tribute to Billie Holiday, after which her debut album Salt (2003) immediately reached the top of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts. In the years that followed, she released several successful albums, collaborated with big names and won an Edison Jazz Award, confirming her position as an international top artist.
In recent years, Wright has chosen to go it alone. With her own label, Blues & Greens Records, she released Holding Space, a live album that fully showcases her power as a performer. In 2024, her new studio album Shadow was released, in which she combines new original songs with intimate themes such as love, loss, community and recovery. The music is rich in acoustic colours, with contributions from Angélique Kidjo and Meshell Ndegeocello, among others.
During her concert at De Doelen, Lizz Wright will bring her signature mix of soul, jazz and gospel to a warm, intimate setting. An evening in which her exceptional voice and stories take centre stage.
For fans of: Cassandra Wilson, Melody Gardot, Norah Jones, Nina Vidal, Ego Ella May, Gregory Porter
“Lizz Wright promises sanctuary, consolation and strength in ‘Sparrow’ from her new album Shadow. Folky guitar and fiddle and a quietly insistent six-beat rhythm support Wright’s benevolent, ever resolute voice as she calls on a lover to return.”
