Lizz Wright

With an instrument described by The New York Times as a “sumptuously earthy, which commands strict and often spine-tingling attention,” the Georgia native first gained attention delivering Swing Era standards associated with Billie Holiday. Since her 2003 debut album Salt, Wright’s music has evolved to embrace soul and R&B, steeped in the gospel of her childhood. She makes a welcome appearance on the Miner stage with music from her latest Blues & Greens release, Shadow.

A quartet of albums on the Verve label concluding with the gospel-infused Fellowship from 2010, established Wright as a major artist whose reach wasn’t bound by the limits of any one approach. Beyond her work as a solo artist and bandleader, Wright has been continually working as a collaborator, appearing on releases by Terri Lyne Carrington, Danilo Pérez, José James, Taj Mahal, and Keb’ Mo.  

After Wright’s GRAMMY-nominated 2015 Concord Records album Freedom & Surrender and the 2017 follow-up Grace, her newest venture is the establishment of her own label, Blues & Greens Records. Its debut release, 2022’s live date Holding Space, was followed by her sublime 2024 studio session Shadow, a deeply felt meditation on loss and love featuring her majestic originals and evocative takes on the work of Cole Porter, Sandy Denny, and Gillian Welch.