New Dee Dee Bridgewater Album

[Guest greenhand]

Excited for “Eleanora Fagan 1915 – 1959: To Billie With Love From Dee Dee” coming out on Tuesday– it’s a celebration of the late great Billie Holiday! Dee Dee is still one of my favorite jazz vocalists! Plus…Edsel Gomez is on piano, James Carter on dynamic reeds, Christian McBride on bass and Lewis Nash on drums

[BFrank]

Should be a nice album. Dee Dee is one of my favorites, as well. She was interviewed on NPR about this album recently.

[king ubu]

She did a concert here with the Billie programme and got a fine review... but honestly, isn't she all that Billie never was?

[Spontooneous]

Had high hopes for this one, because the previous DDB disc was so interesting. But one listen to the promo copy has dashed my hopes.

James Carter overacts on his horns. So Dee Dee overacts too. The total effect is tacky. Shatneresque. Skip it.

[sonnymax]

...James Carter overacts on his horns. So Dee Dee overacts too...

Seeing Ms. Bridgewater twice in concert leads me to conclude that she doesn't need anybody's help in overacting. She's often "over the top" and seems quite full of herself. In her tribute to Betty Carter, she spent as much time talking about how close they were and how special was their relationship, than she did singing.

If I want to hear a "Dee" sing, it will be Dee Alexander, imo a much more talented and humble artist.

[king ubu]

Sorry to say, but hearing her show on NPR once will be ample proof that she's "quite full of herself", I'm afraid... not saying she's a bad singer or anything, but she tries hard to make me not like her! (Best I've heard was a radio broadcast of her Mali project live in concert.)

[Christiern]

I find the cover of this new album as bothersome as Whitney Houston's exhibitionistic "I Will Always Love You

Edited March 12, 2010 by Christiern

[king ubu]

[JSngry]

 

[Mark Stryker]

On 10/30/2018 at 8:53 PM, JSngry said:

 

She takes that dog EVERYWHERE. She's co-artistic director of a small arts organization in Detroit called the Carr Center -- the other co-artistic director is Terri Lyne Carington. They took over for Geri Allen, after Geri died. Anyway, a year ago she was in town working with some students and young pros and the dog -- Daisy? -- had the run of the place. It was kind of insane. But she was GREAT with the young musicians. It was a big band and they were playing Thad's music, and she knew it all having sung with the band every week for years. Privately, she told me some stories too about touring with the band, which I can't repeat in this forum, but there was was life and lessons learned. 

Coda: Here's she is in the the early '70s singing the shit out of "Bye Bye Blackbird" with Thad & Mel. What an incredible chart this is. Good God, It's only 2 1/2 minutes but listen to how much music is in there. The intro that paraphrases the melody of the tune but gnarls it up in DENSE harmony, the clever backgrounds to the vocal chorus; the 1/2 chorus of ensemble loaded with expressive dissonance, melodic wit and serious swing, the call and response between sections, the final climax with the vocal and then out with a short tag leading to a coda that winks back at the intro. A fucking Concerto for Voice and Jazz Orchestra in 146 seconds. 

 

.

 

 

Edited October 31, 2018 by Mark Stryker

[Coda]

I was at her show at Scullers last weekend.  She's still awesome.   I wasn't familiar with anyone in her quartet but one name struck me - Carmen Saft, who played piano.   Does anyone know if she's related to Jamie Saft?

[BFrank]

Saw Jazzmeia Horn last week. She definitely has some Dee Dee in her, and a little bit of Betty Carter.