Dee Dee Bridgewater

Born in Memphis in 1950 and raised in Flint, Michigan, Dee Dee Bridgewater was first immersed in a jazz environment and sang at an early age in rock and rhythm-and-blues groups before moving to New York in the early 1970s. She became the principal voice of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, a decisive stint that anchored her in vocal jazz and big-ensemble work. Her career then unfolded across clubs, festivals and the theatrical stage, with a first album, Afro Blue, in 1974 and a role in the musical The Wiz, which earned her a Tony Award in 1975. Over the years she also explored soul, R&B and pop—notably in the 1980s—before refocusing her repertoire on jazz from the end of that decade. Settling in Paris from 1986, she developed an international career of standards, tributes and thematic projects, with albums such as Keeping Tradition (1993), Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver (1995), Dear Ella (1997), This Is New (2001), J’ai deux amours (2005), Red Earth (2007), Eleanora Fagan (1915–1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee Bridgewater (2010) and Memphis... Yes, I’m Ready (2017). Her singing combines swing, theatrical phrasing, soul inflections and a narrative sense, in formats ranging from quartet to big band.