Asaf Avidan Solo
Lizz Wright

The first thing to strike you about this Israeli songwriter, composer and singer is his unforgettably high and tortured timbre that immediately brings to mind the very greatest voices in rock and blues: from Robert Plant to Janis Joplin, the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Long inseparable from folk-rock band The Mojos — whose three albums between 2008 and 2011 introduced him to critical acclaim — for the past ten-or-so years Asaf Avidan has been pursuing a highly successful solo career, releasing hits such as Reckoning Song, whose remix by German DJ Wankelmut is almost certainly on one of your playlists. While he has gradually incorporated more modern sounds into his music, this is a singer who knows how to turn his tales of heartache into powerful, reunifying hymns and he has lost none of his gift for writing memorable pieces. Yet, his discography far from exhausts his skill and that’s why you have to see him in flesh and blood on stage, where his proverbial charm is rivalled only by the sharpness of his lyrics.

In 1970, the great Soulwoman Candi Staton released her first LP, entitled I’m Just a Prisoner. Sweet Feeling is one of its jewels, a song she co-wrote and recorded at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals. Lizz Wright decided to turn her gorgeous cover of Sweet Feeling into the first single to emerge from her new album, Shadow, which will doubtless be one of 2024’s biggest releases and was produced by her longstanding partner, Chris Bruce, who is known for his work with David Sanborn, Seal, Wendy & Lisa, Meshell Ndegeocello, Joe Henry, Jeff Beck, Aaron Neville, India.Arie, Bettye Lavette and José James.

Since her début album, Salt, in 2003 (which was released a year after her first recordings alongside Joe Sample, the Crusaders’ pianist), it has been patently clear that Lizz Wright is unique. Sweet Feeling once again reveals her in all her splendour and shows off her mastery of gospel and blues, always at the intersection between sacred and profane, more enchanting than ever, and forever distilling everything that’s magical about Great Black Music, whose legacy she carries, from mysterious shadow and soothing light. Listening to Lizz Wright perform on stage is like communing with wise spirits, guided by a voice that takes you by the hand.

Line-up :

• Lizz Wright (vocals)

• Kenny Banks Sr. (piano, organ)

• Ivan Edwards (drums)

• Adam Levy (guitar)

• Ben Zwerin (bass)