Summertime Jams #2: Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly

Soothing as a balmy Summer's day, this song and this video make the season come to vibrant, engaging life. The amazing Lizz Wright with her shimmering version of "Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly":

The Orchard

There are always adjectives ready to try to capture the essence of anything…and there are adjectives aplenty to describe his sumptuous (see?) CD from the utterly remarkable Lizz Wright: luminous, sultry, soulful, beguiling, enchanting, utterly engaging. The Orchard is all of these things and yet the words don’t do Ms. Wright and the new addition to her splendid body of work proper justice.

But words are all I have here and thus they will have to suffice.

This wonderful collection is compromised of eight fine original tunes (all co-written by Wright) and four deftly chosen, surprising covers.

The originals include the cool, sprightly and irresistibly percussive “My Heart” and “This Is”, the quiet but stately “Speak Your Heart”, and the wistful, bittersweet “When I Fall”.

The covers include a bluesy stroll through Ike Turner’s “I Idolize You”, the righteous R&B of Sweet Honey in the Rock’s “Hey Mann”, a dreamy waltz with Patsy Cline’s “Strange”, and a compelling version of Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You”.

Wright is an incredibly expressive singer who brings honest passion to her music without ever feeling the need to give in to excessive vocal gymnastics (she got the chops to wail with the best of them but if it doesn’t stand in service to the song she has no space for it…and that’s so thrillingly refreshing that you wish this was a better world where she was a bigger star than she currently is.)

The music…given wing by acoustic guitars, bass, and keyboards…is able and powerful support to the wondrous vocals under the sure-handed direction of producer Craig Street.

The Orchard is a bountiful harvest of jazz, blues, pop, and R&B that gets more tasty…more delightful and fulfilling…with each listening.

Lizz Wright - Trouble

The remarkable Ms. Wright with a track from her remarkable CD, Dreaming Wide Awake.

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Dreaming Wide Awake

Lizz Wright is a sweet and soulful marvel. Her solo debut, Salt, was tasty as all get out and this new disc is even more delightful.

Wright's honey-smooth, rich, delicately-husky alto is an amazing instrument which she utilizes to fine, fine effect. There are no wasted notes...no pointless embellishments...no false passions anywhere in this lovely song cycle. The music, anchored by soft guitars, is equally tasteful and without pretension; it never tries to draw attention away from the caressing majesty of Wright's voice.

Wright fits in that expansive wonderland between pop and jazz that is also inhabited by the likes of Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, and Billy Miles making timeless music that both expands and defies boundaries in the same instant.

The songs here range from beautiful (mostly) midtempo tunes written or co-written by Wright (the wistful title song and the passionate "Hit the Ground" being highlights) to a handful of fascinating covers (including Neil Young's "Old Man", the old Jesse Colin Young brotherhood plea "Get Together", and a sublimely subdued version of "I'm Confessin'", a song Van Morrison takes in another, equally vital, direction on his new record.)

Soothing as a summer breeze on a soft blue day, Dreaming Wide Awake is destined to linger in my CD player for a long time.