Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dee Dee Bridgewater, born Denise Eileen Garrett on May 27, 1950, in Memphis, Tennessee, is an acclaimed American jazz singer and actress. Raised in Flint, Michigan, she was introduced to jazz by her father, Matthew Garrett, a jazz trumpeter and educator. Her early musical experiences included performing in a Rock and R&B trio during her teenage years. Bridgewater pursued higher education at Michigan State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she toured the Soviet Union with the university's jazz band in 1969.
In 1970, she married trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater and moved to New York City. Her career took off in the early 1970s when she joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra as the lead vocalist. She collaborated with prominent jazz figures such as Sonny Rollins and Dizzy Gillespie and performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1973. Her solo debut album, "Afro Blue," was released in 1974, and she won a Tony Award in 1975 for her role in the Broadway musical "The Wiz."
Bridgewater's career spanned various genres, including jazz, R&B, and soul. She moved to Paris in 1986 and portrayed Billie Holiday in "Lady Day," earning a Laurence Olivier Award nomination. Her 1997 album "Dear Ella" won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. She also served as the host of NPR's "JazzSet" for 23 years and is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization.
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