Berklee Welcomes Dee Dee Bridgewater for Signature Series Concert
Dee Dee Bridgewater Meets Berklee will celebrate the icon's repertoire with a variety of performances by Berklee ensembles and musicians.
Image courtesy of the artist
Global icon, jazz legend, and award-winning artist and producer Dee Dee Bridgewater will perform with various Berklee ensembles and musicians in the Signature Series concert Dee Dee Bridgewater Meets Berklee on Wednesday, October 30, at the Berklee Performance Center.
Bridgewater began her career in the 1970s as the lead vocalist with the fabled Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra before recording her first solo album, Afro Blue. She transitioned to Broadway shortly thereafter, winning a Tony Award in 1975 for her portrayal of Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz. The cast album went on to win the 1976 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. Her stage career took her all over the world, and in 1990 Bridgewater returned to the world of jazz.
Bridgewater’s 1997 Ella Fitzgerald tribute album, Dear Ella, won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album; her subsequent recordings have been beloved by critics and audiences alike. She received the 2017 NEA Jazz Masters Award and 2018 Maria Fisher Founder’s Award from the Thelonious Monk/Hancock Institute of Jazz for her significant contributions to the world of music.
Dee Dee Bridgewater Meets Berklee will celebrate the artist’s incredible, genre-spanning repertoire as well as her role at the forefront of jazz and gender justice. This special showcase takes place on the one-year anniversary of the founding of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, which aims to promote gender equity and inclusion within the jazz world.
The show will be produced by Gabrielle Goodman, professor in the Voice Department, Terri Lyne Carrington, artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice; and Phil Lima, assistant chair of the Voice Department.
Dee Dee Bridgewater Meets Berklee takes place at the Berklee Performance Center, located at 136 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, on Wednesday, October 30, at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20/$30 in advance and $25/$35 day of the show. Tickets are available online and at the Berklee Performance Center box office.
Bridgewater was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2015. Watch her remarks at that year's commencement:
