Dee Dee Bridgewater

Did You Know?

• At age 16, she sang in a rock and R&B trio in Michigan clubs.
• She was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in November 2019.

Biography

Dee Dee Bridgewater, born Denise Eileen Garrett in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up in a Catholic household in Flint, Michigan. Her father, Matthew Garrett, was a jazz trumpeter and teacher, so she heard jazz from a young age. At sixteen, she sang in a rock and R&B trio in Michigan clubs. She studied at Michigan State University and later the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, touring the Soviet Union in 1969 with the school’s jazz band.

The following year, she married trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater and moved to New York, where he played with Horace Silver. In the early 1970s, she became the lead vocalist for the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, performing with musicians like Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, and Dexter Gordon. She appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1973. Her debut solo album, Afro Blue, came out in 1974, and she starred on Broadway in The Wiz as Glinda the Good Witch, winning a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in 1975; the musical also won a Grammy for Best Musical Show Album in 1976.

After touring France in 1984 with Sophisticated Ladies, she moved to Paris in 1986. That year, she played Billie Holiday in Lady Day, earning a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, and recorded “Precious Thing” with Ray Charles for her album Victim of Love.

Philanthropy

Bridgewater has a long history of philanthropy and advocacy. Her appointment as UN Goodwill Ambassador to the FAO, as well as the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award, along with her ongoing work with UNESCO for World Jazz Day coupled with her recognition as a Doris Duke Artist set in motion her founding of The Woodshed Network. Launched in 2019, The Woodshed Network was conceived as a program for Women in Jazz, to provide professional support and accelerate careers through mentorship, knowledge sharing and community interaction.

The program is a collaboration between Dee Dee Bridgewater as artistic director, Tulani Bridgewater-Kowalski as Co-Artistic Director & Program Curator, and 651 ARTS with funding by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The first year's alumna include Erinn Alexis (sax), Lakecia Benjamin (sax), Darynn Dean (vocals), Sarah Hanahan (sax), Kennedy (vocals), Amina Scott (bass), and Sequoia Snyder (piano). Program mentors included Sheila Jordan, Arthel Neville, Marilyn Rosen, Alisse Kingsley, Maureen McFadden, Jett Galindo, Shirazette Tinnin, Fanny Delsol, Simma Levine, Robin Tomchin, Stacie Negas, and Lisa Jefferson.

Acting

Dee Dee Bridgewater has appeared in such films as the 1979 film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh and the 1984 film The Brother from Another Planet. She has made a guest appearance in the sitcom Benson and the sci-fi fantasy TV series Highlander: The Series. Film and television credits include: Everybody Rides the Carousel (1976), The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh as Brandy (1979), Benson as Michelle (1980), Another Life as Samantha Marshall (1982), Night Partners as Gloria (1983), The Wiz as Glinda, the Good Witch of the South (TV version, 1983), The Brother from Another Planet as Malverne Davis (1984), Highlander: The Series as Carolyn Lamb in 'The Beast Below' (1993), Falstaff on the Moon (short film, 1993), Corps plongés (It's Not About Love) as 'la femme au verre du lait' (1998), and Go West! A Lucky Luke Adventure as Molly (2007).

Personal life

Bridgewater is the mother to three children: Tulani Bridgewater (from her marriage to Cecil Bridgewater), China Moses (from her marriage to Gilbert Moses), and Gabriel Durand (from her marriage to Jean-Marie Durand). Tulani, her eldest daughter, attended the Mirman School for Gifted Children in Los Angeles, California. She serves as Bridgewater's manager under her firm Bridgewater Artists Management and runs Bridgewater's production company and record label (DDB Productions, Inc. and DDB Records). Bridgewater's daughter China Moses is a singer, songwriter, producer, and radio broadcaster.