LZ Love News & Reviews

LZ Love interview by David Hughes, Nightflying Magazine, May 2007: 'It’s a crisp Saturday afternoon in March at the Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs. The sun is peaking through the clouds after a dusting of snow earlier. In the second story restaurant, servers are bustling about and people are lazily eating their lunches, in no hurry to get out on the street below. I’m sitting across the table from a beautiful ebony dream named LZ Love.
We had met the night before during her performance as the opening act for Chris Duarte during the 9th Annual Chris Duarte Music Weekend. Love had played a duo with guitarist Lightnin’ Red. I picked up her two CD’s, 'Gut Bucket Blues' and 'My Higher Ground', the evening before and had listened to both of them before making it back for the interview.It turns out that singing and songwriting are natural things for Love.

'I’ve been making up songs since I was a kid. I was one of those kids that was making up my own songs and I think I got inspired doing that because I couldn’t figure out what certain words were so I just started making up my own words. I got encouraged knowing that I was creative enough to come up with words that were clever enough to fit into music. Then I started creating my own little songs.' Read the full interview here.

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'My Higher Ground' Review: 'Words from the mouth are like bullets from a gun/ You can't take them back/So be careful of the things you say/Next time it might come back your way. LZ Love ails in a throaty, church-hewn contralto on the lead track of her debut solo CD. Recorded in San Francisco before the Chicago born, Berkeley raised singer-songwriter relocated to Austin, TX. 'My Higher Ground' is filled with rays of wisdom and positive messages born out of painful experience. 'Oh Lord, I'm creepin' in my grave/You better live your life while you're here on earth/'cause you didn't come here to stay', she sings on another.
Love, who began her career in the mid '70's for transsexual disco diva Sylvester and later recorded a few dance singles of her own, is a welcome addition to the roots-music scene. Her pliant melisma-dripping vocals bring Mavis Staple to mind, and the content of her self-penned material is uplifting, not unlike the 'message songs' The Staple Singers specialized in after switching from Gospel to R&B. The title song would sound quite at home during a Baptist Church service, as would 'Thank You' ('I thank you for wakin' me up this morning/Starting me on a brand new journey', she tells the Lord) and the intensly soulful, entirely a capella closing track, 'Trials'.
The supporting musicians supply a sold, richly textured mix of rock, R&B, and blues flavors. Guitarist Tommy Castro turns up on a couple of tunes, both featuring the searing harmonica of Jona than Korty. Michael Franti, member of the eclectic, politically orientated San Francisco hip-hop band Spearhead, echoes Love's lines vocally on 'Words', the aformentioned opening track. Love herself provides gospel-imbued harmony vocals on all of the songs, but it is her deeply emotive leads and the thoughtfulness of her lyrics that most make 'My Higher Ground' such a rewarding musical offering. Lee Hildebrand, Living Blues, June 2007

'My Higher Ground' Review: Chicago born LZ certainly wears her heart on her sleeve and shows every sign of expressing her grass roots through her music. Raised in California, LZ started singing in her mother's church at the tender age of just 5 years old and if you think you recognize her sultry vocals it's probably because you do. LZ made quite a name for herself in the UK with a handful of dance records which she released from 1999 - 2005. LZ now lives in Austin Texas and with this in mind you can hear the sounds of the live music capital resound throughout her album, 'My Higher Ground'. Hand in hand with everything you would expect from a talented jazz/soul singer, this album makes for a perfect summer recipe. 'Words' kicks it off with ambient bass rifts, funk and LZ's gorgeous sultry vocals. 'My Higher Ground' itself is the pinnacle of the album and lends itself to the likes of Floetry and Lauren Hill which is no bad thing! 'Thank You' and 'Trials' highlight perfectly the trials of life nurturing younger family members and at certain times the album feels quite emotional. Love co-wrote all of the songs on this album and passionately communicates with the listener through fusions of intense funk, soul, southern blues and r&b. If R&B isn't your thing then don't let this shadow the fact that this album is great. It's got summer written all over it. Grace Wood - www.glasswerk.co.uk - May 2006

'My Higher Ground' Review: LZ Love - Vocalist & songwriter has an outstanding voice to rival anyone, anywhere - Fact. It is no surprise that LZ Love began her career as a backing vocalist and has already worked with a diverse range of talents ranging from Luther Vandross, James Brown and George Benson to Robin Williams! There is one thing that is common to all original musicians and that is: attitude, not in the context of having a bad attitude, but the way in which they view the world and it's multi-faceted components. Before the CD was even spun in anger, it is obvious just from her picture that she has musical attitude. How this manifests itself in wonderful music is one of life's mysteries. Thank heavens it does. When reviewing CDâs for the first time you are not only listening for musical references either in the artists voice or arrangement but also to a variation in the song styles and delivery. On occasions it is possible to hear a touch of Aretha in there, but the voice of LZ Love has a clearer purer sound than Aretha could produce, (Sacrilege. I know) but it has to be said. To younger members of the musical audience she is better known in the UK for her Dance Record releases from 1999 to 2005. However, to the Dad dancers amongst us listening to her recorded voice for the first time is a true pleasure. She has an exquisite voice that can cover a range of style from Gospel to Jazz to Blues. If your preference is for strong female vocalist then you will find none better than the veritable LZ Love. To recommend outstanding songs is always difficult. Inevitably it comes down to the personal taste of the individual. You can bribe me with wine and women but the song for me is What I'm learning. Don't take my word for it. Let your ears tell you the truth. This is talent with a capital T.
Iain Youngs - Blues Matters www.bluesmatters.com; Mediasearch Review - Australia

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Jazz Review.com by Joe Montague Mediasearch Review - Australia
This LZ Love is going to put the town of Austin on the musical map as confirmed by her newest CD "My Higher Ground". She came from San Francisco and is playing the many venues in this dynamic musical capital city. Most of the early tunes on the CD have a driving rhythm and blues sound although Ms. Love manages to clarify the words for the listener. She put soul and passion into each selection and puts "hope icing on the cake". The other selections show her forte for gospel and jazz singing and her a capella "Trials" gives religious and inspirational magic. Her "Thank You" and "Trials" brings forth the wanderlust of a young lady who spent her teen years taking care of other sibs. The title cut "My Higher Ground" with its two step bounce is a predicter of this young lady's look towards the future in music. She is foremost with her chord jumps and vocal slides that most often are chilling but full of ethos of a young singer who will eventually make her mark in vocals...hopefully by this new CD. Ms. Love wrote or co-wrote all of her material.
Review by Bob Anthony

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Austin Chronicle

Picks 2 Click by Raoul Hernandez
Every SXSW, the Chronicle's art czar looks at the Music staff and scratches his head. What icon will represent another local grouping of music festival showcasers we've deemed a "Pick 2 Click"? My favorite remains the light switch, but the guitar pick was, of course, a natural. Really, though, what type of logo best represents Austin acts deserving of greater music industry exposure through SXSW? This year's Magnificent Seven and/or Wild Bunch whichever you prefer have plenty in common with previous selections in that we look for relatively fresh faces that are already connecting with local audiences even though the accolades have yet to pour in. This year's septet comes off especially diverse, from the Heart of Darkness rock of the Black Angels to LZ Love's heartfelt and powerful brand of R&B and the pair of Hot Club of Cowtown offshoots burning up River City's alter ego, Swing Town. What represents these acts' recipe for success? An amplifier? All you have to do is turn it on...
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Picks 2 click - LZ Love By Margaret Moser

photo by Todd V. Wolfson
On a too-warm February night at the Victory Grill, LZ Love is giving it all. Never mind that the band members outnumber the audience and staff at the outset, Love is pumping funky, gospel-rich soul into the legendary Austin venue where Bobby Blue Bland got his start and Blues Boy Hubbard ruled with the Jets. It's testimony to Love's splendid vocals and soulful songwriting that listeners are entranced after just one song. So swears guitarist Charlie Prichard, whose own musical history in Austin goes back to the Sixties with Conqueroo. One Sunday about two years ago, he was at Maria's Taco XPress. "She got up and sang 'Amazing Grace,'" he recalls, shaking his head. "I told her, 'I want to be your friend,' and we've been working together ever since." That's a typical reaction to Love's powerhouse pipes, as capable of storming heaven as they are rocking the house and packing the dance floor. For the Chicago native, raised in the Bay area and honing her chops recording dance music in London and throughout Europe, there's no place quite like Austin. The backstory of LZ Love's life and times is painted with colorful moments singing on and off the stage with Bonnie Raitt, Clarence Clemons, Mary Wells, Edwin Hawkins, and Parliament Funkadelic. One of the most vivid moments was the time she was paired with disco singer Sylvester ("Mighty Real"). "Oooh, I loved working with Syl!," purrs the singer. "It was one of my most exhilarating experiences. To see this big, flamboyant, beautiful man transform every night! One night he'd be in drag as a black geisha and the next he'd be an African queen. I was about 16, illegally in the bars with a fake ID." That was the brighter side to a life that demanded much from her. "I grew up ahead of my time, raising my nieces and nephews. I helped my mom and my sisters raise their children because I wanted to, but it seems like I've always had responsibilities. I'd play hooky from school to babysit and thought I was grownup because I was wearing an adult's shoes. Most of what I write is about my experience, but some of it is about what I'd like to go through." My Higher Ground, Love's first CD in Austin, brims with 13 songs that reflect those childhood trials and adult tribulations with perseverance and optimism. It also establishes her as a link to Austin's wealth of R&B history. Besides performing with Prichard and guitarist Adam Raven, she opens regularly for the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers at Maria's and sits in with them, treasuring the gig for bringing her close to local favorites Shelley King and Carolyn Wonderland. Back at the Victory Grill, the audience has grown and responds enthusiastically to her compositions "Heart Won't Lie" and "Something Good." When she breaks into a funkified "Wang Dang Doodle," it's clear there's nothing up-and-coming about LZ Love. The woman has fully arrived.

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Music Review -by Bob Anthony:
This LZ Love is going to put the town of Austin on the musical map as confirmed by her newest CD "My Higher Ground". She came from San Francisco and is playing the many venues in this dynamic musical capital city. Most of the early tunes on the CD have a driving rhythm and blues sound although Ms. Love manages to clarify the words for the listener. She put soul and passion into each selection and puts "hope icing on the cake". The other selections show her forte for gospel and jazz singing and her a capella "Trials" gives religious and inspirational magic. Her "Thank You" and "Trials" brings forth the wanderlust of a young lady who spent her teen years taking care of other sibs. The title cut "My Higher Ground" with its two step bounce is a predicter of this young lady's look towards the future in music. She is foremost with her chord jumps and vocal slides that most often are chilling but full of ethos of a young singer who will eventually make her mark in vocals...hopefully by this new CD. Ms. Love wrote or co-wrote all of her material.

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August 2, 2005

PART 1: PERFORMING ARTS... AND PART 2: VISUAL ARTS
A trip to San Antonio/Austin was highlighted by a performance of L.Z. Love...gospel singer extraordinaire...at a Sunday morning brunch at Stubbs BBQ in Austin. The girl can really pour passion into her music with a fantastic vocal range and a stylistic range of rhythm and blues to jazz to good old fashioned gospel. Her "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" brought tears to the eyes with its pathos. She is backed by a quartet who nicely followed her every change of intensity and mood. So remember the name since she has a solid national and international background but can be found mostly in the smaller club/restaurants so typical of Austin. New York
- Bob Anthony

LZ Love - "ANYTIME" Swing City Records 2005 Talk about keeping the standards high, LZ Love's vocals have a lovely care about them, With Grant Nelson's excellent care, it's hits the spot every time. **** Floor Filler - Sound Judgment - Carl Cox UK

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KLR Entertainment

LZ Love is a dynamic, multifaceted, vocalist with a diverse range of musical styles.

She saw how wonderful it was to pump powerful dance cuts, funky mid-tempo ballads and rock to a music hungry public. LZ doesn't just come with a voice - she has songs!

LZ a San Francisco Bay area legend in her own rite. Her early years on the West Coast has truly been a colorful one. Before she was out of high school, LZ was singing back up for The Queen of Motown Mary Wells and the legendary Sylvester.

Sylvester always knew how to put on a real show and LZ was blessed to have, good sense, to pay attention and learn all she could. LZ has learned very well.

LZ is a Celebrity all the way! As a Celebrity Host for The Black & Beautiful Regional Awards, LZ Love will perform, "It is Your Love" by - Michael Sydnor - KLR Entertainment - (888) - 922-2916

One of the nicer suprises to spring from the mailbag last week was the lusty 'Exotic Erotic' by San Francisco diva LZ Love. She trots over a lively groove concocted with disco reverence by Erik Wikman and DJ-JD with a playful blend of sass and sex. Available on EBB records, 'Exotic Erotic' was actually recorded in tribute to the legendary 16-year old San Francisco club party of the same name, but it works extremely well on it's own.
Love has just signed a recording agreement with the rambunctious Slip'n'Slide Records in the U.K. and will offer the anthemic 'See The Light' on the label by the end of the year. Her recent studio spree with Wikman and DJ-JD resulted in another uplifting jam 'Heaven Sent'. Do not expect to hear that one before the first quarter of 1996. It will be well worth the wait. Love's got it going on in a major way. - Larry Flick

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Sharing the Love at the Velvet Lounge. The righteous quality to songs such as "Lift Me Up" which was written by Miss Love, has just been re-released on the "Standing Wide Legged and Proud" CD but this ain't church. It's good-time soul music, with all the winking insinuation and infectious self-esteem the style implies. This is Gospel according to Miss Love
- James Sullivan - San Francisco Chronicle Date Book.

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CD of the Month "Standing Wide - Legged and Proud"
I have never met a blues-man or women that didn't appreciate great soul music. With this in mind,the staggeringly inventive Bay area Artist LZ Love has one of the great soul voices of our time, mesmerizing in it's depth, harrowing in it's power. The CD "Standing Wide Legged and Proud" mixes the unique approach to modern R&B with the best of soul's golden era with sophistication. With superb backing musicians and twelve original, compelling songs, this CD is a stone joy, hotter than a match-head, sure enough a Indy classic, That's my huge tip to you for the New year.

Joseph Jordan-South-land Blues Blues Matters Review (UK) "Standing Wide-Legged and Proud" CD
Funky black girl singer with Gospel/ George Clinton roots delivers a strangely funky CD of original songs with plenty of highs and a mean funk groove to the fore ground on most cuts. A pure chance acquisition, this disk has drawn me into its insistent atmosphere, truly great singing. You know, I think I'm hooked. It's Blues? It is Soul? It's Funk? Is it sequenced and automated? Yes, yes, yes and no. Maybe the freshest thing in their overall field since Erykah Badhu But nothing like her ever. Intriguing - Pete Sargeant

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Global Communication Chart- NY, USA

"See the light" On the Charts at #7
HYPE CHARTS UK LZ Love, "See the Light" #3 on the charts. A new angle on the disco groove from San Francisco U.S.A Just Brilliant!

CREAM Magazine Charts Patrick Smoove c.r.e.a.m.
LZ LOVE, "See The Light", Tops #1 on the charts London's Slip N Slide have had a busy month with the HOT release from San Francisco's LZ Love with "SEE THE LIGHT" with great garage mixes from Booker T and a wicked deep mix from Chicago's Derek Carter.

Blues & Soul Charts - See the Light #3

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Speed Garage UK - LZ Love "It's Your Love" Fatt Boy
The Fabulous vocal talents of LZ Love are given the UK garage flavor with re-mixes by Catch. They provide us with a bouncy vocal mix which will not only appeal to the so-called garage purists, but also to the more open-minded UK garage D-jays. The dub mix is more in the same vein. Worth searching for this song.

MUZIK Germany - LZ Love "SEE THE LIGHT" Talk about an all-star line up. Produced by the legendary Booker T and B.B. Stone, with keyboards by Smack Productions Eddie Perez and backing vocals courtesy of Gerideau and Shaun Benson, "See the Light" was just made to be an absolutely massive hit. LZ herself, a women who at one time used to perform back up vocals for the disco queen Sylvester, is truly the cake beneath the icing -
DF **** rating

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Cool Cut Charts
LZ Love "It's Your Love"
A Dave Carnacho & Carlton Cotterill production with a gospel-feel, diva-sized, big boned female voice. Plus two Banana Republic Re-mixes. A LARGE Vocal has a real US edge, complete with the gospel-esque backing vocals, A song for the big yin upstairs.

Banana Republic have served the bumpy London bizniz, with immediate floor appeal.T-Walker "I hammered this last year off TP Quality garage all the way, with LZ main vocal sheer up lifting pressure for purist flavors. The original Dub is awesome too." Cool Cut Charts UK

"IT'S YOUR LOVE" - climbs to the top of the charts at #1 Mr Do
"It's your Love" #5 - Espen Wilk Radio Norway