MUSIC Wright way: Jazz singer wants to be unchanged by business

Wright, who also writes songs, isn't interested in getting lots of attention.
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- It's typical for new artists on the verge of signing a record contract to be anxious about the future: Will they get a hit? Become rich? Is stardom on the horizon?
Yet Verve Records President Ron Goldstein was taken aback by the question jazz singer-songwriter Lizz Wright asked him.
"She kept saying to me, 'Ron, I don't want the business to change me -- Ron, how do I not let the business change me?"' Goldstein recalls.
While critics have heralded her as one of the brightest new jazz faces with her acclaimed 2003 debut, "Salt," the 24-year-old Wright has little interest in trying to become the genre's next big thing, a la Norah Jones.
"I'm not excited about getting that much attention. I really just want an audience that is willing to let me live my life and share with them what I get out of my life," says Wright.
"There's a lot of pressure that comes from the mainstream stuff, and already people who have been saying -- people who don't know any better -- have been saying things to me like, 'You should really think about neosoul, you'd definitely be more successful in that.' But that's not my expression."
About her music
Wright's expression is a mixture of jazz, adult contemporary pop and tempered gospel, with a voice reminiscent of Cassandra Wilson or Oleta Adams -- velvety smooth, yet forceful and intoxicating. Since her album was released last spring, it has done well on the jazz charts and she has gained a growing following at live venues, where she has won over crowds with her performances.
Spike Lee counts himself as a fan -- in fact, the director was so impressed by Wright that he sought her out to direct her first video, "Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly."
"When I heard that he wanted to do a video, I was really surprised," Wright says, adding that the best thing about the understated, scrapbook themed-video is that "it makes my personality clear. I'm kind of a subtle person."
That subtlety is clear with Wright, from her music (refined and elegant) to her dress (simple and streamlined, including her almost-bare hairdo) to the way she speaks (in a reserved voice barely above a whisper).
Background
Much of her demeanor is a result of her upbringing -- the middle child of ultra-strict evangelist parents (her father was a preacher, her mother sang gospel). Growing up in Hahira, Ga., she wasn't allowed to watch TV, see movies, eat certain foods or even listen to any music besides gospel, although she later discovered instrumental jazz, which excited her.
"I wasn't allowed to play it, but I played it on my own. I played the radio once a week," she says.
While some children brought up in strict households rebel, Wright simply adapted.
"I was someone who would just agree so I could get by. I didn't use the fight that was in me. There was nothing I could do, I was a child, but it's the truth, I strongly disagreed with a lot of stuff, and a lot of things went down at home," she says.
So she became immersed in the religious life and gospel music. Wright was so into the Bible that she even filled in for her father to give an occasional sermon when he wasn't in town.
"I really got into it. I didn't like how strictly I was raised, but I was like, if this is the one thing they're going to give me, then I'm going to dive into it and find something I want," she says.
Learning about the world
It wasn't until she left her watchful parents to attend Georgia State University in Atlanta that she became exposed to the secular world.
"For a while I did indulge in a lot of stuff that was too much ... I did the whole drinking thing for a while. I had my little period of trying to be crazy, but honestly, it was really boring, and I don't know why so many people do it."
Her gospel roots remained strong, and she sang with local gospel groups in college. But her love of jazz was continuing to grow -- so much so that she dropped out of college after one year. She had wanted to study vocal jazz, but that wasn't available to undergraduates, so she had to take opera -- "which I really didn't like."
After leaving school, she relocated to Macon, Ga., and would commute to Atlanta and sing in jam sessions with other artists. Her reputation grew, and she was invited to become part of the jazz-tinged gospel band In the Spirit. Her performances there eventually led to her solo record deal at Verve.
Wright understands that it may take some time before mass audiences embrace her eclectic sound -- and that's O.K. with her.
"Where I come from, music is not a business. Sharing music is a business but music is not a business," she says. "It comes from the people and belongs to the people."