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Dee Dee Bridgewater (born May 27, 1950) is an American Jazz singer. She is a two-time Grammy Award Winner, Tony Award Winner and Host of NPR's Syndicated Radio show "JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater". She is a United Nations Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Biography

Born Denise Eileen Garrett in Memphis, Tennessee, she grew up in Flint, Michigan. Her father, Matthew Garrett, was a jazz trumpeter and teacher at Manassas High School, and through his play, Denise was exposed to jazz early on. At the age of sixteen, she was a member of a rock and rhythm'n'blues trio, singing in clubs in Michigan. At 18, she studied at the Michigan State University before she went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. With their jazz band, she toured the Soviet Union in 1969. 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 the lead vocalist.^[1] 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, and others. Performed at the legenday Monterey Jazz Festival in 1973. In 1974, her first own album, entitled Afro Blue, appeared, and she also performed on Broadway in the musical The Wiz. 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. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she returned from the world of musical to jazz. She performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1990, and four years later, she finally collaborated with Horace Silver, whom she had admired since long, and released the album Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver. Performed also 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. Performed again at the Monterey Jazz Festival (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.

Her album Red Earth, published in 2007, features Africa-inspired themes and contributions by numerous musicians from the West African nation of Mali. Performed at the San Francisco Jazz Festival (2007).

December 8, 2007, will perform with the Terence Blanchard Quintet at the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.,^[2] and will perform in Switzerland, Russia, Austria, France, Italy, Hungary, Spain, at the end of 2007.

Family Life

Bridgewater is 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 current marriage to French concert promoter Jean-Marie Durand).

Selective awards and recognitions

Grammy history

Career Wins: 2^[3]

Career Nominations: 7

Year	Category	Title	Genre	Label	Result	Notes
Dee Dee Bridgewater Grammy Award History
2005	Jazz Vocal Album	J'ai Deux Amours	Jazz	DDB	Nominatee
2001	Best Jazz Vocal Album	Live At Yoshi's	Jazz	Verve	Nominatee
1998	Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s)	Dear Ella	Jazz	Verve	Winner	for the song "Cotton Tail"
1998	Best Jazz Vocal Performance	Dear Ella	Jazz	Verve	Winner
1996	Best Jazz Vocal Performance	Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver	Jazz	Verve	Nominatee
1994	Best Jazz Vocal Performance	Keeping Tradition	Jazz	Polygram	Nominatee
1989	Best Jazz Vocal Performance - Female	Live in Paris	Jazz	MCA	Nominatee

Awards

Bridgewater is the first American to be inducted to the Haut Conseil de la Francophonie. She has received the Award of Arts and Letters in France. She also won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in The Wiz.

Selective discography

Year	Title	Genre	Lable	Billboard^[4]
2007	Red Earth	Jazz	DDB	#23
2005	J'ai Deux Amours	Jazz	DDB	#16
2002	This is New	Jazz	Verve	#7
2000	Live at Yoshi's	Jazz	Verve	#20
1997	Dear Ella	Jazz	Verve	#5
1995	Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver	Jazz	Verve	#13
1993	Keeping Tradition	Jazz	Verve
1992	In Montreux	Jazz	Verve
1989	Live in Paris	Jazz	MCA
1974	Afro Blue	Trio	Jazz

Footnotes

^ Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness, page 547, (1995) - ISBN 1561591769
^ Kennedy Center: The Movie Music of Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard
^ Album Awards List
^ Billboard Artist Chart History: Dee Dee Bridgewater

External links

The official Dee Dee Bridgewater site
A recent interview

Template:S-awards

Preceded by Janie Sell for Over Here!	Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical 1975 for The Wiz	Succeeded by Kelly Bishop for A Chorus Line

[1] Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness, page 547, (1995) - ISBN 1561591769

[2] Kennedy Center: The Movie Music of Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard

[3] Album Awards List

[4] Billboard Artist Chart History: Dee Dee Bridgewater

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 ==Biography==
-Born '''Denise Eileen Garrett''' in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], she grew up in [[Flint, Michigan]]. Her father, Matthew Garrett, was a jazz trumpeter and teacher at Manassas High School, and through his play, Denise was exposed to jazz early on. At the age of sixteen, she was a member of a rock and rhythm'n'blues trio, singing in clubs in [[Michigan]]. At 18, she studied at the [[Michigan State University]] before she went to the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]]. With their jazz band, she toured the [[Soviet Union]] in [[1969]]. 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 [[1970]]s she sang regularly with the [[Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band|Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra]].<ref>Larkin, Colin. ''The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Guinness, page 547, (1995) - ISBN 1561591769</ref>
+Born '''Denise Eileen Garrett''' in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], she grew up in [[Flint, Michigan]]. Her father, Matthew Garrett, was a jazz trumpeter and teacher at Manassas High School, and through his play, Denise was exposed to jazz early on. At the age of sixteen, she was a member of a rock and rhythm'n'blues trio, singing in clubs in [[Michigan]]. At 18, she studied at the [[Michigan State University]] before she went to the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]]. With their jazz band, she toured the [[Soviet Union]] in [[1969]]. 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 [[1971]], Bridgewater joined the [[Thad Jones]]/[[Mel Lewis]] orchestra as the lead vocalist. The next years 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]], and others. Performed at the legenday [[Monterey Jazz Festival]] in [[1973]]. In [[1974]], her first own album, entitled ''Afro Blue'', appeared, and she also performed on Broadway in the [[Musical theater|musical]] ''[[The Wiz]]''. 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]].
+In the early [[1970]]s, Bridgewater joined the [[Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band|Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra]] as the lead vocalist.<ref>Larkin, Colin. ''The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Guinness, page 547, (1995) - ISBN 1561591769</ref> 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]], and others. Performed at the legenday [[Monterey Jazz Festival]] in [[1973]]. In [[1974]], her first own album, entitled ''Afro Blue'', appeared, and she also performed on Broadway in the [[Musical theater|musical]] ''[[The Wiz]]''. 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]].
 [[Image:Ddbridg014.JPG|right|thumb|In concert in 1990]]
 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]]. In the late [[1980s]] and early [[1990s]], she returned from the world of musical to jazz. She performed at the [[Montreux Jazz Festival]] in [[1990]], and four years later, she finally collaborated with [[Horace Silver]], whom she had admired since long, and released the album ''Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver''. Performed also 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. Performed again at the [[Monterey Jazz Festival]] ([[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.