Dee Dee Bridgewater
Over the course of a multifaceted career spanning four decades, Grammy and Tony Award-winning jazz giant Dee Dee Bridgewater has ascended to the upper echelon of vocalists, putting her unique spin on standards, as well as taking intrepid leaps of faith in re-envisioning jazz classics. Bridgewater’s career has always bridged musical genres. She earned her first professional experience as a member of the legendary Thad Jones/Mel Louis Big Band, and throughout the 70s she performed with such jazz notables as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie. After a foray into the pop world during the 1980s, she relocated to Paris and began to turn her attention back to jazz. Recipient of an NEA Jazz Masters Fellows Award, she’s currently on tour performing from her new CD “Memphis.”
Bridgewater also pursued a parallel career in musical theater, winning a Tony Award for her role (Glinda) in “The Wiz” in 1975.
As a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, Bridgewater appeals for international solidarity to finance global grassroots projects in the fight against world hunger.