Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet: We Exist!
Jazz Legends - Sponsored by Lexus
Dee Dee Bridgewater has something to tell the Müpa Budapest audience. On her last visit to the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, in 2007, she related what a deeply affecting adventure it had been for her searching for her African roots. Later on, she revealed other connections as well: ones that link her to the legacy of Billie Holiday, the city of New Orleans and her own native Memphis. To this day, she remains an authentic and completely original performer who wins over audiences with her uncompromising personality and marvellous voice - and on this occasion she will proclaim the central credo of her life accompanied by her superb quartet.
Dee Dee Bridgewater's career is now in its sixth decade, and while she says she's put in a lot of work to find herself, there's no doubt that the jazz world sees her as an institution. She has been producing her records herself for a long time, and has even run her own label, DDB Records, since 2006. A former member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, she has worked with Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie. She has also achieved many successes in the world of musical theatre. With three Grammy Awards and one Tony to her name, as well as the Doris Duke Arts Award, she has also been named an NEA Jazz Master, a UN Food and Agriculture Organisation Goodwill Ambassador, an ASCAP Champion and a Memphis Music Hall of Fame legend, and is the founder of the Woodshed Network, which helps advance the careers of female artists. Her We Exist! tour is a statement about the struggles that women like Bridgewater have faced and the tremendous successes they have achieved through their talent - women such as Carmen Staaf, the quartet's artistic director and pianist. On the programme will be songs like Mississippi Goddam, Trying Times and The Danger Zone.
bandleader, vocals - Dee Dee Bridgewater
Featuring:
musical director, piano: Carmen Staaf
double bass: Rosa Brunello
drums: Evita Polidoro
Lexus is the key sponsor of the Jazz Legends programme.
Presented by: Müpa Budapest
