Songs We Love

From the sounds of things on the phone, Lizz Wright is going about the business of her daily life while she gives thoughtful responses to her interviewer's questions. There's the ding of a bell as a shop door closes behind her, a whispered "Hi" and, later, the electronic chiming that reminds you to fasten a car's seatbelt.

Eventually, the North Carolina-based singer and songwriter offers an explanation. "You just heard me in the hardware store grabbing a hand shovel, because I'm the school gardener now," she chuckles. "Someone took my hand shovel, and I was trying to reseed some stuff."Lizz Wright Spreads The Gospel Of Nina Simone In 'Seems I'm Never Tired Lovin' You'

Perhaps inadvertently (you never know with a searching mind like hers), Wright has supplied a metaphor for what Grace — her sixth album of Southern-accented, patiently distilled jazz, gospel and soul — represents for her personally. Produced by Joe Henry, it captures her in the act of lovingly shoring up her relationship with the Southern hamlets and resilient inhabitants that shaped her at a moment of great social and political tumult. She spends the exquisite 10-song collection creating generous space rather than offering commentary.