Dee Dee Bridgewater
{{Short description|American jazz singer (born 1950)|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Dee Dee Bridgewater
| image = Dee_dee.jpg
| birth_name = Denise Eileen Garrett
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|5|27|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
| origin = Flint, Michigan, U.S.
| genre = {{hlist|Jazz|Smooth jazz|R&B|Soul}}
| occupation = Singer, actress, record producer, songwriter, UN goodwill ambassador, radio host
| years_active = 1966–present
| label = DDB Records, Sony Masterworks, OKeh Records, Verve, Elektra, MCA
| website = {{URL|www.deedeebridgewater.com}}
| associated_acts = Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Horace Silver, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, Theo Croker, China Moses, Ray Charles, Stanley Clarke, Sarah Vaughn, Max Roach, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock
}}
Dee Dee Bridgewater (née Denise Garrett, May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National Public Radio's syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/event/music/353256144/jazzset-signs-off|title=JazzSet Signs Off|website=Npr.org|access-date=November 3, 2017}} She is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization.{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/tempref/GI/Reserved/ambassadors/finalVersion/amb/bridgewater_en.htm|title=FAO Ambassabors Programme|website=Fao.org|access-date=2019-04-10}}
Biography
Born Denise Eileen Garrett to an African American family in Memphis, Tennessee, she was raised Catholic in Flint, Michigan. Her father, Matthew Garrett, was a jazz trumpeter and teacher at Manassas High School, and through his playing, she was exposed to jazz early on. At the age of 16, she was a member of a Rock and R&B trio, singing in clubs in Michigan. At 18, she studied at Michigan State University, before attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. With the school's jazz band, she toured the Soviet Union in 1969.{{cite news
| title = A Singer Is Returning to a Stage Where It All Began
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/22/arts/arts-in-america-a-singer-is-returning-to-a-stage-where-it-all-began.html
| last =Thomas | first =Jo | newspaper = The New York Times | date = September 22, 1998
| access-date = 2016-10-06
}}
The next year, she met trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, and after their marriage, they moved to New York City, where Cecil played in Horace Silver's band. In the early 1970s, Bridgewater joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra as lead vocalist.Larkin, Colin (1995). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness, p. 547 – {{ISBN|1-56159-176-9}}. This marked the beginning of her jazz career, and she performed with many of the great jazz musicians of the time, such as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Wayne Garfield, and others. She performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1973. In 1974, her first solo album, entitled Afro Blue, appeared, and she performed on Broadway in the musical The Wiz.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/production/the-wiz-majestic-theatre-vault-0000007830|title=The Wiz Broadway @ Majestic Theatre – Tickets and Discounts|website=Playbill|language=en|access-date=2019-04-10}} For her role as Glinda the Good Witch she won a Tony Award in 1975 as "Best Featured Actress", and the musical also won the 1976 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
She subsequently appeared in several other stage productions. After touring France in 1984 with the musical Sophisticated Ladies, she moved to Paris in 1986. The same year saw her in Lady Day, as Billie Holiday, for which role she was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award, as well as recording the song "Precious Thing" with Ray Charles, featured on her album Victim of Love.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she returned from the world of Pop and Contemporary R&B to Jazz. She performed at the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy and the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1990, and four years later, she finally collaborated with Horace Silver, whom she had long admired, and released the album Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver. She also performed at the San Francisco Jazz Festival (1996). Her 1997 tribute album Dear Ella won her the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album, and the 1998 album Live at Yoshi's was also worth a Grammy nomination. She performed again at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1998. She has also explored on This Is New (2002) the songs of Kurt Weill, and, on her next album J'ai deux amours (2005), the French Classics.
File:Hancock Bridgewater.JPG and Bridgewater giving a masterclass to musicians in Rabat, Morocco]]
Her album Red Earth, released in 2007, features Africa-inspired themes and contributions by numerous musicians from Mali. She performed at the San Francisco Jazz Festival (2007). On December 8, 2007, she performed with the Terence Blanchard Quintet at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.{{cite web|url=http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showEvent&event=MIJPB|title=Kennedy Center: The Movie Music of Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard|website=Kennedy-center.org|access-date=November 3, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818231324/http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showEvent&event=MIJPB|archive-date=August 18, 2007|df=mdy-all}} She tours frequently, including overseas gigs around the world. October 16, 2009, found her opening the Shanghai JZ Jazz Festival,{{cite web|url=http://www.jzmg.net/en/review-2009|title=Review 2009 {{!}} Shanghai JZ Festival Official Website|website=Jzmg.net|access-date=2019-04-10|archive-date=2016-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507074631/http://www.jzmg.net/en/review-2009|url-status=dead}} in which she sang tunes associated with Ella Fitzgerald, along with Ellington compositions and other jazz standards.
As a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, Bridgewater continues to appeal for international solidarity to finance global grassroots projects in the fight against world hunger. She's also been bestowed with honorary doctorates from the University of Michigan and the Berklee College of Music{{cite web|url=https://www.berklee.edu/news/julio-iglesias-doug-morris-harvey-mason-dee-dee-bridgewater-receive-honorary-degrees|title=Julio Iglesias, Doug Morris, Harvey Mason, Dee Dee Bridgewater to Receive Honorary Degrees {{!}} Berklee College of Music|website=Berklee.edu|language=en|access-date=2019-04-10}}{{cite web |date=2012-10-23 |title=International Jazz Performer to Receive Honorary Degree at UM-Flint Commencement |url=https://news.umflint.edu/2012/10/23/international-jazz-star-dee-dee-bridgewater-to-receive-um-flint-honorary-degree/ |access-date=2019-04-10 |website=News.umflint.edu |language=en-US}}
In April 2017, Bridgewater was the recipient of an NEA Jazz Masters Award{{cite web|url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/dee-dee-bridgewater|title=Dee Dee Bridgewater|date=2016-06-07|website=NEA|language=en|access-date=2019-04-10}} with honors bestowed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and in 2018 was awarded the 2018 Maria Fisher Founder's Award by the Thelonious Monk/Hancock Institute of Jazz.{{cite web|url=https://hancockinstitute.org/dee-dee-bridgewater-2018/ |title=Dee Dee Bridgewater – 2018 Maria Fisher Founder's Award Recipient |website=Hancockinstitute.org |access-date=2020-05-06}} Bridgewater was also, in November 2019, inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |last=Mehr |first=Bob |date=November 9, 2019 |title=Soul men Steve Cropper, Dan Penn, Don Bryant among the honored at Memphis Music Hall of Fame ceremony |url=https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/11/08/memphis-music-hall-fame-inducts-new-members-including-steve-cropper-dan-penn-don-bryant/2538376001/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=The Commercial Appeal |language=en-US}}
Philanthropy
Bridgewater has a long history of philanthropy and advocacy. Her appointment as UN Goodwill Ambassador to the FAO, as well as the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award, along with her ongoing work with UNESCO for World Jazz Day coupled with her recognition as a Doris Duke Artist set in motion her founding of The Woodshed Network. Launched in 2019, The Woodshed Network was conceived as a program for Women in Jazz, to provide professional support and accelerate careers through mentorship, knowledge sharing and community interaction. The program is a collaboration between Dee Dee Bridgewater as artistic director, (DDB Productions + DDB Records), Tulani Bridgewater-Kowalski as Co-Artistic Director & Program Curator (Bridgewater Artists Management), and 651 ARTS with funding by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The first year's alumna include Erinn Alexis (sax), Lakecia Benjamin (sax), Darynn Dean (vocals), Sarah Hanahan (sax), Kennedy (vocals), Amina Scott (bass), and Sequoia Snyder (piano). Program mentors included Sheila Jordan, Arthel Neville, Marilyn Rosen (Marilyn Rosen Presents), Alisse Kingsley (Muse Media Public Relations), Maureen McFadden (DL Media), Jett Galindo (The Bakery LA), Shirazette Tinnin, Fanny Delsol (Motema), Simma Levine (NJ PAC), Robin Tomchin (Motema), Stacie Negas (Sony Masterworks), and Lisa Jefferson (LRJ Account Management), with Bridgewater-Kowalski serving as moderator.
Acting
Dee Dee Bridgewater has appeared in such films as the 1979 film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh and the 1984 film The Brother from Another Planet. She has made a guest appearance in the hit sitcom Benson and the hit sci-fi fantasy TV series Highlander: The Series.
Film and television credits include:
- Everybody Rides the Carousel, Stage 7, 1976
- The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh as Brandy, 1979
- Benson as Michelle, 1980
- Another Life as Samantha Marshall, 1982
- Night Partners as Gloria, 1983
- The Wiz as Glinda, the Good Witch of the South (TV version of Broadway Musical), 1983{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135708/|title=The Wiz (Video 1983)|website=IMDb.com|access-date=July 25, 2021}}
- The Brother from Another Planet as Malverne Davis, 1984
- Highlander: The Series as Carolyn Lamb in "The Beast Below" (Season 1, Ep.16), 1993{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0601414/|title="Highlander" The Beast Below (TV Episode 1993)|website=IMDb.com|access-date=July 25, 2021}}
- Falstaff on the Moon (short film), 1993{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0431758/|title=Falstaff on the Moon (Short 1993)|website=IMDb.com|access-date=July 25, 2021}}
- Corps plongés (It's Not About Love) as "la femme au verre du lait", 1998
- Go West! A Lucky Luke Adventure as Molly, 2007
Personal life
Bridgewater is the mother to three children, Tulani Bridgewater (from her marriage to Cecil Bridgewater), China Moses (from her marriage to theater, film and television director Gilbert Moses) and Gabriel Durand (from her last marriage to French concert promoter Jean-Marie Durand).{{Cite web |date=2021-08-18 |title=The Pulse: China Moses Talks About Her Musical Birthright, Her Global Vantage, and a New EP |url=https://www.wbgo.org/music/2021-08-18/the-pulse-china-moses-talks-about-her-musical-birthright-her-global-vantage-and-a-new-ep |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=WBGO |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Jo |date=September 22, 1998 |title=ARTS IN AMERICA; A Singer Is Returning to a Stage Where It All Began |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/22/arts/arts-in-america-a-singer-is-returning-to-a-stage-where-it-all-began.html |website=The New York Times }}
Tulani, her eldest daughter, attended the Mirman School for Gifted Children in Los Angeles, California. She serves as Bridgewater's manager under her firm Bridgewater Artists Management and runs Bridgewater's production company and record label (DDB Productions, Inc. and DDB Records).{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-02-27 |title=Rising Stars: Meet Tulani Bridgewater-Kowalski |url=https://voyagela.com/interview/rising-stars-meet-tulani-bridgewater-kowalski-of-los-angeles-ca/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Voyage LA Magazine |language=en-US}}
Bridgewater's daughter China Moses is an accomplished singer, songwriter, producer, radio host and MTV VJ (France). Her critically acclaimed albums have earned her an international reputation as heir to her mother's legacy. Moses also tours worldwide, occasionally sharing the bill with Bridgewater.{{Cite web |last= |date=2009-04-13 |title=Review: China Moses/ Ronnie Scott's |url=https://londonjazznews.com/2009/04/13/review-china-moses-ronnie-scotts/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=London Jazz News |language=en-US}}
Awards and honors
=Grammy Awards=
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Bridgewater has won two Grammys with eight nominations.{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/dee-dee-bridgewater/16435|title=Dee Dee Bridgewater|publisher=The Recording Academy|website=grammy.com|date=20 November 2024}}
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
!Work !Category !Label |
|---|
| 1989
| Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female | {{nom}} |
| 1994
| {{nom}} |
| 1995
| Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver | {{nom}} |
| 1997
| {{win}} |
| 2000
| {{nom}} |
| 2005
| {{nom}} |
| 2007
| Red Earth – A Malian Journey | {{nom}} |
| 2010
| Eleanora Fagan (1915–1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee | {{win}} |
=Other accolades=
- First American to be inducted into the Haut Conseil de la Francophonie
- Officier dans l’ordre de la Légion d’Honneur Award (France), 25th of April 2025, on board French warship Mistral at New Orleans
- Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Award (France)
- Tony Award, Best Featured Actress in a Musical, The Wiz, 1975
- Laurence Olivier Award Nomination, Best Actress in a Musical, Lady Day, 1987
- AUDELCO Award, Outstanding Performance in a Musical-Female, Lady Day, 2014{{cite web|url=http://www.audelco.org/2014-nominees/|title=2014 Winners {{!}} Audience Development Committee, Inc.|language=en-US|website=Audelco.org|date=28 March 2016 |access-date=2019-04-10}}
- ASCAP Foundation Champion Award,{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/dee-dee-bridgewater-receive-ascap-foundation-champion-award|title=Dee Dee Bridgewater Earns Prestigious ASCAP Honor|date=2017-10-06|website=Grammy.com|language=en|access-date=2019-04-10}} 2017
- NEA Jazz Masters, 2017{{Cite web|url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/dee-dee-bridgewater|title=Dee Dee Bridgewater|website=Arts.gov|access-date=July 25, 2021}}
- Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, 2018{{cite web |url=https://www.dorisduke.org/grants/what-weve-funded/Grant-Recipients/2018-doris-duke-artist-awards |title=2018 Doris Duke Artist Awards |website=DorisDuke.org |access-date=May 21, 2023}}
- Thelonious Monk Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Maria Fisher Founder's Award, 2018{{Cite web|url=https://hancockinstitute.org/dee-dee-bridgewater-2018/|title=Hancock Institute of Jazz|website=Hancockinstitute.org|access-date=July 25, 2021}}
- {{ill|German Jazz Trophy|de|vertical-align=sup}} – A Life for Jazz Award, Stuttgart Jazz Open, 2019{{Cite web|title=German Jazz Trophy: DeeDee Bridgewater Tickets & Karten|url=https://jazzopen.online-ticket.de/german-jazz-trophy-deedee-bridgewater-tickets-14.html|access-date=2020-10-07|website=Jazzopen.online-ticket.de|language=de}}
- Memphis Music Hall of Fame, 2019{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/428e9c9df5304dd983e49ff63303a7c0|title=Tina Turner, Charlie Musselwhite named to Memphis music hall|date=28 June 2019|website=Apnews.com|access-date=July 25, 2021}}
Discography
As guest
- Frank Foster – The Loud Minority (Mainstream, 1972)
- Stanley Clarke – Children of Forever (Polydor, 1973)
- Roy Ayers – Coffy (Polydor, 1973) – as Denise Bridgewater
- Buddy Terry – Lean on Him (Mainstream, 1973)
- Norman Connors – Love from the Sun (Buddah, 1974)
- Cecil McBee – Mutima (Strata-East, 1974)
- Charles Sullivan – Genesis (Strata-East, 1974)
- Carlos Garnett — Black Love (Muse, 1974)
- Stanley Clarke – I Wanna Play for You (Nemperor, 1979)
- Hollywood Bowl Orchestra – Prelude to a Kiss: The Duke Ellington Album (Philips Classics, 1996)
- Ray Brown — Some of My Best Friends Are...Singers (Telarc, 1998)
- BWB – Groovin' (Warner Bros., 2002)
- Christian McBride – Conversations with Christian (Mack Avenue, 2011)
Film soundtrack
- Coffy (dir. Jack Hill, 1973) — performer: "Coffy Baby", "Coffy Is the Color (Main Title)" – as Denise Bridgewater
- Try This One for Size (dir. Guy Hamilton, 1989)
- The Brother from Another Planet (dir. John Sayles, 1984) — performer: "Getaway", "Boss of the Block"
- Présumé dangereux (dir. Georges Lautner, 1990) — performer: "Turning Round"{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100428/|title=Présumé dangereux (1990) |website=IMDb.com|access-date=July 25, 2021}}
- La Vengeance d'une Blonde (dir. Jeannot Szwarc, 1994) – performer with Philip Bailey: "People and Places"
- Monster-in-Law (dir. Robert Luketic, 2005) — performer: "Into My Soul"
- Elsa & Fred (dir. Michael Radford, 2014) — performer: "Step 1"
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{Official website|http://www.deedeebridgewater.com|Dee Dee Bridgewater}} – official site
- {{Discogs artist}}
- {{IMDb name|0108815}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- [http://www.rockwired.com/rockwired_interviews_dee_dee_bridgewater.html Dee Dee Bridgewater] interview at Rockwired.com
- {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050909083732/http://www-music.duke.edu/jazz_archive/artists/bridgewater.dee.dee/01/bio.html|date=September 9, 2005|title=Dee Dee Bridgewater}}
{{Dee Dee Bridgewater}}{{TonyAward MusicalFeaturedActress 1947-1975}}
{{NPR}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridgewater, Dee Dee}}
Category:20th-century African-American women singers
Category:20th-century American women singers
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:21st-century African-American women singers
Category:21st-century American singers
Category:21st-century American women singers
Category:African-American actresses
Category:African-American jazz musicians
Category:American expatriates in France
Category:American jazz singers
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American women jazz singers
Category:Food and Agriculture Organization officials
Category:Jazz musicians from Michigan
Category:Jazz musicians from New York (state)
Category:Jazz musicians from Tennessee
Category:Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite
Category:Michigan State University alumni
Category:Musicians from Flint, Michigan
Category:Singers from Memphis, Tennessee
Category:Record producers from Michigan
Category:Record producers from Tennessee
Category:Sanremo Music Festival winners
Category:Singers from Michigan
Category:Traditional pop music singers