Cultivating meaning: World-famous US jazz star Lizz Wright plants a tree in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv

In town for the Plovdiv Jazz Fest this past weekend, world-famous US jazz and gospel singer Lizz Wright took time out to plant a tree in the city’s Bunardzhika garden – doing so for a reason that has a personal meaning for the star.

Years ago, she was involved in an extremely serious accident in which her car was held over a 75-metre precipice by a very young tree, which practically saved the singer’s life. Since then, planting trees has become a mission for her.

Lizz Wright, aided in the planting of the tree – a star gum (Liquidambar) by Plovdiv Deputy Mayor for Culture Plamen Panov, told reporters: “It’s done out of care, respect and friendship. I really appreciate the symbolism of planting a tree together. I also love nature and gardening – my father is a gardener.

“We always feel connected to the land, we have a sense of belonging to it,” she said.

In addition to being a jazz and gospel vocalist, Lizz Wright is a professional chef and an avid gardener. She describes gardening as a “working meditation.”

She cares for, creates, and maintains the garden at the progressive Little Black Pearl Art & Design Academy, where she grows vegetables, herbs, and flowers. She considers her passion for gardening a very important part of her identity,

The planted tree comes from the homeland of the jazz icon, but the conditions in Bulgaria are also suitable for it. In decades, it could reach 20 metres, and the idea is that it will be the beginning of an entire garden of “musical” trees.

Panov said: “Now, with my colleagues from the Jazz Fest, a wonderful idea was born – to actually make this a garden for all performers who come to Plovdiv, and I think that in the future, in the long run, we will do everything possible to make this a garden that will delight Plovdiv residents, to leave a memory of these great performers who come to our city”.

The tree-planting took place a few hours before Wright took to the stage at the Plovdiv Jazz Fest’s Boris Christoff House of Culture on November 8, with a mesmerising and moving performance that brought the full-house audience to its feet for ovations and demands – met – for an encore.

(Photos: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)