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Since the money isn’t in singing jazz but in easy-listening drivel and barefoot folk-soul, Lizz Wright has kicked off her shoes and turned earth mama for Dreaming Wide Awake. It seems like a boardroom decision to update the Cassandra Wilson jazz-stylist-goes-bluesy formula with a dash of warm ‘n’ woody Norah Jones sweetening, and the results sound every bit as contrived, thanks to Wilson’s producer, Craig Street. Suitably bland covers of Neil Young’s Old Man and the Carpenters’ hippie feel-good anthem Get Together are made-to-order background fodder for Americana and oldies radio play and, of course, regular rotation at your local coffee shop. Norah nuts will love it.
