Every picture tells
a story; every journey begins differently.
The story of Dee Dee Bridgewater's stunning new album, Memphis...Yes, I'm
Ready, begins in that city, where she was born at Collins Chapel Hospital,
located not far from where the album was recorded at Producer Willie Mitchell's
historic Royal Studios. Dee Dee's
father, a trumpet player affectionately known as "Matt the Platter
Cat" was a DJ at WDIA, the top Memphis radio station, and even when the
family moved to neighboring Flint, Michigan, the young Dee Dee continued to
listen to the great sounds of the Memphis music scene by tuning-in late night
from across state lines. And oh what a
music scene it was!
"Even as a young girl the music moved me, inspired me,
made me dance with joy and cry with emotion.
My life journey may have started in Mali, West Africa, as a descendent
of the Peul tribe and the Fulani of Nigeria (explored on her 2007 recording,
"Red Earth" recorded in Mali) but it certainly was nurtured by my
childhood in the South and all of the amazing music that I was being exposed
to."
To Memphis and her roots, the 2017 NEA Jazz Master,
three-time Grammy and Tony award winner, NPR host and UN Ambassador for the
Food And Agriculture Organization knew that she would have to come back home to
do it right. The album was co-produced
by Memphis native and Grammy-winning musician Kirk Whalum, and Willie
Mitchell's grandson - Grammy-winning Engineer Lawrence "Boo"
Mitchell. It was recorded at Royal Studios in Fall 2016 after multiple visits
by Bridgewater to Memphis over a period of several years, during which time she
absorbed as much of the music, culture, heart and soul of the city as she could
possibly consume.
"Working in Memphis at Royal Studios is like
magic," says Bridgewater.
"There's so much history that has been recorded in those walls. I just felt I could take this journey in that
city with Kirk and Boo. They are my two
kingpins and the two helped me realize this project and bring it to
fruition."
Dee Dee was determined to recapture the same magic and
history of the Blues, R&B and Soul classics in the recordings that were
originally made in or associated with Memphis.
"I wanted people to be able to recall the original versions, but I
also wanted them to have a more modern feeling while respecting those
originals. I'm doing B.B. King's 'Thrill
Is Gone,' Bobby Blue Bland's 'Going Down Slow', Otis Redding's 'Try A Little
Tenderness,' Al Green's 'Can't Get Next To You,' Ann Peebles' 'I Can't Stand
The Rain' and The Staple Singers' 'Why? (Am I Treated So Bad)' - it just
doesn't get any better than this in terms of material. The opportunity to make
them my own was an opportunity and a challenge I felt honored to take on."
In reality, Bridgewater even prayed her project was on the
right path. She said her prayers were
answered when, out of the blue, Memphis' own Stax Records singing legend Carla
Thomas dropped by Royal Studios just after Dee Dee had finished mixing Thomas'
hit, "B.A.B.Y."
"Being able to play 'B.A.B.Y.' for Carla and listening
to her share stories about my father playing with her father, Rufus Thomas, and
talking about life in Memphis in general was the final affirmation that I
needed for the project…the icing on the cake."
The result of this recording is an album that sounds like
Memphis and feels like Memphis but also, sounds and feels as only a Dee Dee
Bridgewater album can, imbibed with her own fierce passion, originality and
incredibly dynamic take on the tracks.
"I want to honor Memphis, which we call Soulsville,
because it has brought joy to so many people around the world," says
Bridgewater. "It has always been a part of me. The more I come back, the
more at home I feel. I will eventually move back here. Much of my heart and soul are here."
The release of Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready will be accompanied
by tour dates worldwide - visit www.deedeebridgewater.com for information. Watch Dee Dee talk about the making of the
project here: Grammy, Tony Award winner Dee Dee Bridgewater returns home to
Memphis to record new album.
Track Listing:
Yes, I'm Ready
Giving Up
I Can't Get Next To You
Going Down Slow
Why? (Am I Treated So
Bad)
B.A.B.Y.
Thrill Is Gone
The Sweeter He Is
Can't Stand The Rain
Don't Be Cruel
Hound Dog
Try A Little Tenderness
(Take My Hand) Precious Lord
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. Ever the fearless voyager,
explorer, pioneer and keeper of tradition, the three-time Grammy-winner most
recently won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Eleanora Fagan
(1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee.
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 70's 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.
Bridgewater began self-producing with her 1993 album Keeping Tradition
(Polydor/Verve) and created DDB records
in 2006 when she signed with the Universal Music Group as a producer
(Bridgewater produces all of her own CDs).
Releasing a series of critically-acclaimed CD's, all but one, including
her wildly successful double Grammy Award-winning tribute to Ella Fitzgerald,
Dear Ella - have received Grammy nominations.
Artist Theo Croker is signed to DDB Records and Irvin Mayfield and the
New Orleans Jazz Orchestra also recorded a project with Dee Dee released by her
label in 2014.
Bridgewater also pursued a parallel career in musical
theater, winning a Tony Award for her role as "Glinda" in The Wiz in
1975. Having recently completed a run as the lead role of Billie Holiday in the
off-Broadway production of Lady Day, her
other theatrical credits include Sophisticated Ladies, Black Ballad, Carmen,
Cabaret and the Off-Broadway and West End Productions of Lady Day, for which Bridgewater received the
British Laurence Olivier Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.
As a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations' Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), Bridgewater continues to appeal for
international solidarity to finance global grassroots projects in the fight
against world hunger. She is currently on tour worldwide in support of Memphis...Yes,
I'm Ready" and in April of this year was the recipient of an NEA Jazz
Masters Fellows Award with honors bestowed at the Kennedy Center in Washington,
D.C.
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