Photo by Andrea Canter

A career in music and specifically in jazz was Dee Dee’s destiny. Born Denise “Dee Dee” Garrett in Memphis, she moved to Flint, Michigan as a young child. Surrounded by music, her first source of inspiration was the voice of Ella Fitzgerald, which she heard on her mother’s recordings. Her father was a trumpeter and teacher who counted Booker Little, Charles Lloyd, and George Coleman among his students. Dee Dee was singing in a rock and R&B trio as an adolescent, and toured the Soviet Union with the University of Illinois Big Band in 1969. In New York a year later with then-husband, trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, she debuted with the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Orchestra. Soon she was performing and/or recording with such luminaries as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach, Roland Kirk, Stanley Clarke and Frank Foster’s "Loud Minority."

Despite her success, Dee Dee sought new opportunities to expand her artistry, and in the mid 70s brought her voice to the Broadway stage, winning the Tony Award for her role as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz. From Broadway she went on to Tokyo, Los Angeles, Paris and in London where she won the coveted Laurence Olivier Award nomination as Best Actress for her role as Billie Holiday in Stephen Stahl’s Lady Day. She subsequently performed in stagings of Sophisticated Ladies, Cosmopolitan Greetings, Black Ballad, Carmen Jones, and was the first African American to portray Sally Bowles in the Paris production of Cabaret.

Bridgewater turned to pop for a while in the 80s, but after moving to Paris, found herself pulled back into jazz. As a performer and producer for Verve, she released a series of acclaimed recordings, beginning with Keeping Tradition in 1993 and a tribute to Horace Silver, Love and Peace (1994). Most have received Grammy nominations, including her much heralded 1997 Grammy winning tribute to her early

Photo by Andrea Canter

Beyond her roles as performer and producer, Dee Dee Bridgewater has taken on other challenges. Since 1999, she has served as Ambassador to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as part of the battle against world hunger. Her efforts as Ambassador were recognized when she became the first American member of the "Haut Conseil de la Francophonie," an organization which recognizes individuals on a global level who have made significant contributions to French culture and society. As a “jazz ambassador,” Dee Dee took over as host of NPR’s award-winning Jazz Set in 2001, replacing Branford Marsalis, and continues in this role today, introducing listeners to the best jazz artists in live performances around the world.

With a voice shaded by Nancy Wilson, Nina Simone, and Tina Turner as well as Ella, Dee Dee Bridgewater is the penultimate jazz singer, whether scatting or singing it straight on. “Jazz is my soul, my roots—it’s me.”

“ Five minutes into a typical Dee Dee Bridgewater performance and words like exuberant, ebullient, exhilarating suddenly become wholly inadequate.” --NPR

Dee Dee Bridgewater will perform in Seattle at Jazz Alley www.jazzalley.com; sets at 7:30 and 9:30 pm; 7:30 pm only on Sunday. She heads south to Catalina's in LA, June 8-11; www.catalinajazzclub.com; sets at 8:30/10:30 pm; on Sunday at 7:30/9:30 pm. For her west coast gigs, Dee Dee’s band will include Ira Coleman (bass), Edsel Gomez (piano), Antonio Sanchez (drums) and Pernell Saturnino (percussion).