Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Lizz Wright: Dreaming Wide Awake

Lizz Wright: Dreaming Wide Awake

By Stephen Latessa
August 7, 2005
View read count

Lizz Wright has an immediately arresting voice. She sounds equally at home whether reaching for high, airy notes or dropping down for the deepest, earthiest tones. Dreaming Wide Awake finds her taking on an eclectic assortment of songs, including a number of impressive originals. With its stripped down soul/jazz/pop arrangements, the album cannot escape comparisons to Norah Jones' work, but it also recalls Solomon Burke's great statement of purpose, Don't Give Up On Me. Like the Burke album, Dreaming Wide Awake offers the thrill of hearing a great, confident voice exercised over a wide range of material.

The disc kicks off with an imaginative, deep blues reinterpretation of the schmaltzy classic "A Taste Of Honey that seems to have altered the very DNA of the song. Wright also turns in an effective performance of Neil Young's "Old Man with backing vocals by Marc Anthony Thompson (aka Chocolate Genius). She seems so in sympathy with the song that the prospect of her covering other Young compositions becomes, if not obvious, than certainly intriguing. I can imagine her tackling "Only Love Can Break Your Heart or "Birds, and they would fit just fine.

Another standout is "Hit The Ground, composed by Wright with Jesse Harris and Toshi Reagan. The stirring soul ballad sounds inevitable in exactly the right way. The backing vocals are angelic and perfect. It is absolutely a track to build on.

Dreaming Wide Awake is an exciting album from a fresh talent. This is a publication devoted to jazz, and so it should be noted that the album is jazzy rather than being jazz per se. However, that caveat should not discourage anyone looking for music of impeccable taste and deep feeling. Wright is an artist worth watching.

Visit Lizz Wright on the web.

Track Listing

A Taste Of Honey; Stop; Hit The Ground; When I Close My Eyes; I'm Confessin'; Old Man; Wake Up, Little Sparrow; Chasing Strange; Get Together; Trouble; Dreaming Wide Awake; Without You.

Personnel

Lizz Wright

vocals

Lizz Wright; vocals; Chris Bruce; guitars; David Piltch; bass; Earl Harvin; drums; Glenn Patscha; keyboards, backing vocals; Bill Frisell; guitar (tracks 1,9,11); Jeff Haynes; percussion (tracks 1,4,9); Patrick Warren; keyboards (tracks 4,8,11,12); Greg Leisz; guitar (tracks 2,6,7,12); Marc Anthony Thompson aka Chocolate Genius; harmonica, backing vocals (track 6); Toshi Reagan; vocals (tracks 3,9).

Album information

Title: Dreaming Wide Awake | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Verve Music Group

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Multiplicity
< Previous

Live The Life
Next >

Lizz Wright Concerts

Oct 5 Sun

Lizz Wright

Strathmore Music Center
North Bethesda, MD

Nov 24 Mon

Lizz Wright

Het Concertgebouw
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.