Before & After with Dee Dee Bridgewater

Dee Dee Bridgewater, Monterey Jazz Festival, 9/12 (photo: Tomas Ovalle)

Too bad we didn’t film this listening session. To see Dee Dee Bridgewater’s animated facial expressions and watch her respond, both physically and emotionally, would add an extra layer or two of meaning to the text. I caught up with the peripatetic vocalist (and her little Maltese, Ayo) at her hotel in Washington, D.C., a few hours before her performance with the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour band. The actress and three-time Grammy winner, 62, continues to host NPR’s JazzSet while pursuing her intercontinental musical adventures. Her latest recording is the compilation Midnight Sun, released through her own DDB Records.

1. Betty Carter/Ray Bryant