On Friday evening, June 22, 2007 Carnegie Hall was filled with a sea of humanity of people from various cultures and backgrounds. As I approached Carnegie Hall from the West Side I could see a colorful crowd gathering at the entrance, chatting, socializing and greeting one another. I had seen both artists on previous occasions at outdoor concerts and through the years I have become familiar and blessed by their excellent gifts.
As I walked into Carnegie Hall I realized that I had walked into a cornucopia of beautifully arrayed women as various as the wild flowers in mother nature's panoramic valley of delight. I realize that they not only just drawn to the talent but also to the spirituality, empowerment and illumination of the voice of India.Arie and Lizz Wright. There was a spirit of joy, rhythm, soul that was intertwined into the audience. India.Arie and Lizz Wright held a beacon that illuminates mind, body,and soul.
India.Arie flowed onto the music world in 2001 with her debut Acoustic Soul. Arie released her latest album, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship, in 2006. She is a U.S. ambassador for UNICEF and is involved in social and humanitarian causes in our world.
Asked what she would like listeners to take away from Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship India says, “I always pray that God will allow my music to touch whoever it’s for in the way that they need. I always pray for that. “But, on my own human level,” she continues, “when I was growing up, I remember very few songs that talked about what relationships were really like. So, for people who are still growing and learning, I hope this album will be a window into what it really means to love somebody – the triumph and the pain, and how it all comes together. And for people who have had their hearts broken, I hope these songs will speak to them with the laser-point accuracy that is comforting about music, whenever you find it."
Lizz Wright, the middle child of a rural minister, Lizz was born in 1980 in Hahira, Georgia, where she began singing in church at six years old. She taught herself piano well enough to help her father in church. She participated in several choirs and won a National Choral award. She studied music performance at Georgia State University. Lizz Wright gained wide recognition in 2003 with performances at Billy Holiday tributes in Chicago and Los Angeles with her debut album Salt. Her most recent album is Dreaming Wide Awake.
Lizz said that, "Music lives in that place where anything can be picked up. It can become a different statement in someone else's hands than in my hands. The fact that it can be passed from hand to hand is something beautiful, almost spiritual. It means different things in different places, and I approached this record as if there is no history. I was just a voice, and I loved it."
The soulful songstress Lizz Wright came on first and mesmerized us with songs that brought us joy and stirred our memory. She is so graceful in her deliverance. The crowd screamed and called for more. Liz came back with one last song "Amazing Grace". She was simply amazing that night. India.Arie came on and took us to a higher height. She did one song after another as the crowd sang and swayed right along with her. Her song "The Heart of the Matter" spoke volumes on forgiveness and sent my mind into the zone. I just couldn't get enough that night.
India.Arie and Lizz Wright have two distinct and wonderful styles nevertheless that night they shared a oneness closely knit together in power, spirituality and music that transcended culture, race, gender and generation through two of the most dynamic women in music today. The diversity and energy of the audience was definitely a testimony to their gifts.
