Dee Dee Bridgewater
A performer who always puts on an exciting and extroverted show, Dee Dee Bridgewater has been a major jazz singer since at least the late 1980s and has had a wide-ranging career. Born and raised in Memphis, Bridgewater had a father who was a trumpeter and a music teacher. She performed in Michigan in the 1960s and toured the Soviet Union in 1969 with the University Of Illinois Big Band. After marrying trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, she moved to New York in 1970. Dee Dee sang with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and with such notables as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach and Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
In 1974 she switched careers, singing and acting on Broadway as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz. She spent years as an actress in a variety of productions including playing Billie Holiday in Lady Day, and had commercial success with her R&B-oriented recordings. While living in France in the late 1980s, she returned to the jazz world, appearing at festivals and forming her own group. Her recordings since then have included an innovative tribute to Horace Silver’s music (Love And Peace), Dear Ella, the songs of Kurt Weill (This Is New), a thank you to the people of France (J’ai Deux Amours), and her latest, a groundbreaking set of adaptations of music inspired by Mali (Red Earth). In addition to her singing, Dee Dee Bridgewater is the host of the NPR syndicated radio series Jazz Set with Dee Dee Bridgewater, and she is a United Nations ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization.
Articles on Dee Dee Bridgewater
03/18/13 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Dee Dee Bridgewater to Star as Billie Holiday on Broadway
08/06/12 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Al Jarreau and Hubert Laws on Upcoming Children’s CD
04/10/12 Concerts By Wilbert Sostre
The Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Fest: March 29 - April 1,2012
02/02/12 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Dee Dee Bridgewater & Roy Haynes to Headline Portland Jazz Festival
10/27/11 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Dee Dee Bridgewater Appears at United Nations World Food Day
10/08/11 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Michael Feinstein to Host Gershwin Tribute
09/30/11 News By Jeff Tamarkin
2012 Portland Jazz Festival Headliners Announced
08/16/11 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Celebrates 25th Anniversary
07/27/11 News By Cathy Passeri
Kennedy Center Releases CD from Mary Lou Williams Tribute Show
05/06/11 News By Lee Mergner
Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Fest to Salute Abbey Lincoln
10/12/10 News By Lee Mergner
Los Angeles Jazz Society Honors Poncho Sanchez at Annual Gala
05/19/10 Photos By JazzTimes
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in China
April 2010 Vox By Christopher Loudon
Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee
Dee Dee Bridgewater
April 2010 Vox By Christopher Loudon
Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee
Dee Dee Bridgewater
March 2010 Farewells By Dee Dee Bridgewater
Eartha Kitt
March 2010 JT Notes By Evan Haga
The Entertainers
02/01/10 Features By John Murph
Dee Dee Bridgewater: Drama Queen
11/23/09 News By Lee Mergner
Panama Jazz Festival, Under Direction of Danilo Perez, Announces Lineup for 2010
09/24/09 News By Lee Mergner
The Kennedy Center Announces 2009-2010 Jazz Season
05/08/09 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival Next Weekend
04/01/09 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Monterey Jazz Festival Announces Headliners
03/03/09 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Month-long ‘Honor!’ Series at Carnegie Hall Pays Tribute to African-American Music
January/February 2009 News By Don Heckman
Monk Institute Saxophone Competition
December 2008 News By George Varga
Jazz for Obama: Democratic Jazz Party
11/12/08 Concerts By Evan Haga
Tranquility Jazz Festival
11/05/08 Concerts By Don Heckman
Monk Sax Competition & B.B. King Tribute
10/29/08 Concerts By Evan Haga
Duke Ellington Jazz Festival: Jazz on the Mall
06/27/08 Concerts By Chris Walker
Playboy Jazz Festival
November 2007 Artist Profiles By Andrew Gilbert
Dee Dee Bridgewater: Finding Africa
05/15/06 Concerts By Larry Appelbaum
Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival 2006
02/28/06 By Doug Ramsey
Concerts — May 2006
December 2005 Features By Andrew Gilbert
Dee Dee Bridgewater: Le Lush Life
November 2005 Albums By Christopher Loudon
J’ai Deux Amours
Dee Dee Bridgewater
November 2005 Albums By Christopher Loudon
J’ai Deux Amours
Dee Dee Bridgewater
09/21/05 Concerts By Larry Appelbaum
Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition
06/14/05 Concerts By Chris Walker
Playboy Jazz Festival 2005
09/16/04 Concerts By Larry Appelbaum
25th Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition
05/15/04 Concerts By Ken Franckling
Dee Dee Bridgewater in Boston
December 2003 Features By Lara Pellegrinelli
Singing for Our Supper
March 2003 Final Chorus By Nat Hentoff
Purging Jazz From Public Radio
09/26/02 Concerts By Ira Gitler
Fats Navarro Headstone Dedication and Tribute
September 2002 Albums By Christopher Loudon
This Is New
Dee Dee Bridgewater
09/06/00 Concerts By Doug Ramsey
Vail Jazz Festival 2000
May 2000 Albums By Joel Siegel
Live at Yoshi's
Dee Dee Bridgewater
December 1999 Photos By JazzTimes
Indelible Images VI
January/February 1998 Albums By Bill Bennett
Dear Ella
Dee Dee Bridgewater
March 1997 Albums By Marcela Breton
Prelude to a Kiss: The Duke Ellington Album
Dee Dee Bridgewater and The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Events featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater
- Cully Jazz Festival
- Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival 2006
- Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival 2006
- Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition
- Playboy Jazz Festival 2005
- 25th Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition
- Vail Jazz Festival 2000
- Fats Navarro Headstone Dedication and Tribute
- Dee Dee Bridgewater in Boston
- North Sea Jazz Cruise
- Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival 2009
- Grand Hotel Labor Day Jazz Festival
- Duke Ellington Jazz Festival
- Thelonious Monk International Sax Competition & B.B. King Tribute
- Ella! feat. Dee Dee Bridgewater, Janis Siegel, Al Jarreau at the Kennedy Center
- 15th Annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival
- Panama Jazz Festival 2010
- The Los Angeles Jazz Society’s (LAJS) 27th Annual Jazz Tribute Awards Dinner & Concert
- Semifinals of Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition
- Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition Finals & Gala Concert
- New Mexico Jazz Festival
- Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
- Jazz Roots: Jazz Meets Gershwin
- Portland Jazz Festival
- Caramoor 2012 Jazz Festival
- 2012 CARAMOOR INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
- Monterey Jazz Festival
- Props to Pops: Dr. John’s Tribute to Louis Armstrong
- Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour 55th Anniversary Celebration
Albums
Dear Ella
Prelude to a Kiss: The Duke Ellington Album
Live at Yoshi's
This Is New
J’ai Deux Amours
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