Reach: BETTY WRIGHT // HMV Ritz Manchester TUE 10 JUL

Buy tickets £22.50 advance

Betty Wright is a soul and R&B singer with deep gospel roots. She influenced a generation of female singer-songwriters and continues to influence the world of hip hop, who sample some of her more famous material.

Born singing gospel with the family group, the Echoes of Joy, Wright began experimenting with R&B music in 1965 when she was only 11. In 1968, she released her first album age 14, and scored her first national hit age 14. Wright’s most successful phase of her career began when the song, Clean Up Woman, became a Top 5 pop and #2 R&B hit, and would later influence a remix of Mary J. Blige‘s “Real Love” single with the sample of its guitar riffs; R&B girl group trio SWV’s I’m So Into You also featured a sample from Clean Up Woman.

After co-producing the first two Joss Stone albums, (2003, 2004) multiple GRAMMY nominations, Vocal production on Diddy and Keyshia Cole’s Last Night (#1),a Vocal Coaching spot on Making the Band 3, which spawned the group Danity Kane, Wright managed to squeeze in an amazing collab with her dear friend Ms Angie Stone which garnered them a GRAMMY nomination in Best duets category. Ms. B is also vocal coach to Lil Wayne. This Mother of 5 still manages to mentor several young singer/songwriters in a home-based camp called The MOST, which is an acronym for Mountain Of Songs Today, Wright has been instrumental in the careers of hundreds of artists (vocal coaching, production, song writing, backing vocalist and co-ordinator, music consultancy, etc) The likes of Beyonce, Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez, Joss Stone, Mia X, Trick Daddy, Flo Rida, DJ Khaled, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Alice Cooper and Bill Wyman.

The Movie is the first solo release for the since 2001 for Betty Wright, Despite the span between albums, Wright has been very much in the game over the past decade, working with younger artists like Joss Stone, Kelly Clarkson, Angie Stone, and others. Backed by the rock-solid Roots, the songs (all co=written by Wright) successfully blend vintage and modern soul from the funky jams of “Old Songs” and “Look Around (Be a Man)” to the simmering, sultry cuts “Surrender,” “Tonight Again,” and “One.” The two tracks featuring Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, with whom she’s previously worked, split the difference with subtle hip-hop touches, and the duets with Joss Stone (“Whisper in the Wind”) and Lenny Williams (“Baby Come Back”) truly shine. Throughout the album, Wright’s voice sounds incredible. It remains versatile and expressive, and she can still hit all the notes with confidence and style. It can be tough for a seasoned performer to appeal to old and new fans alike, but Wright, with help from The Roots, pulls it off.

Presented by Mean Fiddler & Jazz Café in association with Band on the Wall.