Lizz Wright continues her genre-defying adventure with Fellowship. This is a nod both to her roots as a gospel singer and to her gospel of eclecticism. Fellowship, which opens with the Me’Shell N’Degeocello-penned title song, is not a typical genre exercise. The album features a good amount of the hymnody Wright sang in church growing up (she is the daughter of a Georgia pastor). It also borrows heavily from Eric Clapton, Gladys Knight and Jimi Hendrix. Joan Wasser adds even more modern material to the mix from her indie-rock band Joan as Police Woman. Wright stated that she wanted to record songs from home as well as some gospel music, but she also wanted to share other things with her family. Wright took some time off last year in order to be closer to her family and to reconnect with non-musical interests, including graduating from culinary school. Deciding that 2010 was the right time to record a new album, Wright looked backwards quickly. I entered this project believing that it would be a great opportunity to sing the songs I needed in my life, and those that my people needed. “The gospel is always in me, and the voices from my family singing those stories are always with me. I can always visit that place at any time and bring back the riches quick.” It was clear that Fellowship would include both standards that are well-known to the African American church and some newer choices. “I needed to be true to my roots, but I also had to speak up now. As I was looking at possible covers, I decided it would be great to approach the work of contemporaries Joan and Me’shell. “Followship was made much quicker than my previous albums. However, because it was created within the gathering of generous friends like Toshi Johnson Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon and Angelique Kidjo the elements came into focus and I had a clear direction.” Wright grew up in a Pentecostal church and wasn’t permitted to listen to popular music. It was a coincidence, or perhaps serendipitously that Wright made the historic leap from her early musical lives to her current one. She put a “secular spin” on a spiritual. There are some real circles that you can draw. It was a blessing to have the opportunity to record this album with Kenny Banks, one of my closest friends and my very first gig. He is a minister of music at a Methodist Church in Atlanta and was there when I was 19 to watch me transition from gospel to the first night I sat down at a Peachtree Street club. I sang aEURAmazing grace’-but in blues. She laughs, adding that this song she had known all my adult life came roaring out from her with anger, sadness and all of my curiosity. The funny thing about jazz was that it felt like gospel had a sacredness that I found familiar. My musical journeys have been influenced by the familiar and the unknown. When I heard the term “blues”, I was shocked, as I had been familiar with that sound my whole life. Since her 2003 Verve debut, Salt (which was sung by mothers in church), Wright has received nonstop critical acclaim. She’s a confounding artist, who is known for topping jazz charts but is not the traditional jazz singer most people think of. “I don’t know how I can aim at groups. Songs are stories I need to tell. I pick up songs and start singing. Music has given me the chance to ask lots of questions and to reconcile a lot of things. Wright candidly discusses her motivations. Wright says, “It’s now that I think about what can help or heal someone else.” Sometimes it is good to sing the simple things people need. This is where I was this time. This site has many tools. Sometimes, we have songs that can be used to overcome obstacles. From www.lizzwright.net
