Vocalist

Seasons pass, new talents emerge, yet she remains firmly on the throne: the queen of jazz singing is still, unmistakably, Dee Dee Bridgewater. And a great diva never does anything by chance: her current touring band is an all-female, international lineup, assembled to launch a rallying cry—“We Exist!”. The project brings together protest songs such as Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam,” Gene McDaniels’ “Compared to What,” James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good),” Bob Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody,” and others that are far more than melodies with socially conscious lyrics—they are true musical manifestos, carriers of powerful messages that speak to everyone. Art and activism thus take shape in the multifaceted, refined, and powerful voice of a legend not only of jazz.

DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER We Exist!

Gaetano Donizetti Theater

Bringing new life to American Songbook classics
With a telepathic on-stage rapport and playful exuberance, vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and pianist Bill Charlap bring new life to American Songbook classics and jazz standards. Bridgewater’s bold, story-driven vocals dance around Charlap’s harmonically rich, deeply rooted piano, fusing spontaneous charm, warmth, and technical mastery. Touring behind their new duo album, Elemental, this is a musical alliance distilled to pure voice and piano as it strikes a balance between jazz intimacy and theatrical storytelling. The album, described by Paris Move as “a masterclass in minimalist grandeur,” includes tracks like “Mood Indigo,” “Here’s That Rainy Day,” and the lead single, “Honeysuckle Rose.” 

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Dee Dee Bridgewater with Bill Charlap

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts

Some call Dee Dee Bridgewater the legitimate successor to the legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. And rightly so! She is a master of jazz singing in all its many forms. Passionate and full of energy, she demonstrates this time and again in a wide variety of formations – from performances with large orchestras to exquisite duo evenings. In musical symphony with pianist Carmen Staaf, who has already worked with jazz greats such as Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, and Fred Hersch, our Focus Jazz artist presents herself at her third and final concert this summer on the Wiesbaden Kurhaus stage. This evening promises jazz in its purest form – an experience not to be missed!

Dee Dee Bridgewater, vocals Carmen Staaf, piano

Friedrich-von-Thiersch-Saal

This year's Focus Jazz artist, Dee Dee Bridgewater, is one of the greatest entertainers on the international jazz scene, with her powerful voice and abundant performing talent. She inherited her passion for music, dance, and acting from her mother and grandmother, and so it is important to her to make music with up-and-coming jazz talents and pass on her experience. For example, in the mentoring program "The Woodshed Network" she founded, she once took jazz singer Kennedy under her wing. Kennedy now, as the frontwoman of the New York-based band Kennedy Administration, rocks every stage with her energetic voice and presence. Together with the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt under the direction of Angelo Valori, the two singers, who have a great deal of mutual respect for each other and their music, showcase their entire artistic spectrum, from jazz, blues, rich R&B, and deep soul.

Dee Dee Bridgewater, vocals Kennedy, vocals Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt Angelo Valori, conductor

Kurpark

Singer, actress and ambassador for women in jazz and in the fight against world hunger - there are many attributes that describe this year's Focus Jazz artist Dee Dee Bridgewater. The three-time Grammy award winner is an explorer, pioneer and at the same time preserver of musical traditions and is always on the lookout for musical partnerships on equal terms. In the three colleagues of the Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet - Carmen Staaf, Rosa Brunello and Evita Polidoro - she has found exactly that. With their program "We Exist" the four power jazz musicians musically reflect on what women in jazz have already achieved, but also on the path that still lies ahead for them. With songs like "Trying Times" and "The Danger Zone" these exceptional musicians make a strong statement and bring the best jazz to the lake stage of Schloss Vollrads.

Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet: “We exist”

Weingut Schloss Vollrads

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 recently won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album for “Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee.”

Hoyt Sherman Place

GRAMMY-winning pianist Bill Charlap has established himself among the most respected keyboardists in jazz and leads one of the longest lived and telepathic piano trios working today, featuring bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington. They will be joined by a pair of special guests: vocalist and 2017 NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater, and trumpet icon Nicholas Payton.  

Bill Charlap Trio

SFJAZZ Center

Join us in honoring the life and work of the “first lady of jazz,” legendary pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams. Hosted by the incomparable Dee Dee Bridgewater, this year’s two-day festival features performances by Eliane Elias, Endea Owens, Ingrid Jensen and the Center Song Project, Julia Keefe’s Indigenous Big Band, and more phenomenal women leading today’s jazz scene.

Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival 2024

Kennedy Center

Peabody Keystone Master Class: Dee Dee Bridgewater

Johns Hopkins University

NJPAC celebrates the close friendship of legendary singer and songwriter Miss Peggy Lee and the greatest vocal star of all, Frank Sinatra. This one-night-only event features Christian McBride as Musical Director, with a lineup of all-star vocalists including Aloe Blacc (Wake Me Up), multi-GRAMMY® winner Dee Dee Bridgewater, Bettye LaVette (I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Man of LaMancha, Ragtime) and Rachael Price (Lake Street Dive)—along with the Christian McBride Big Band and Strings.

Celebrating Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra & Friends

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is proud to present an evening with Dee Dee Bridgewater!  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. Don’t miss this one-night only performance as she brings her talents to the Meyerson stage!

Dee Dee Bridgewater | Jazz at Symphony Center

Meyerson Symphony Center

You’re invited to join us for an evening of “NO WORK – ALL PLAY” at Opera Parallèle’s benefit party! Let us transport you to the theatrical, luxurious excess of a mysterious Gilded Age retreat…

 A former secret meeting hall, The Lodge’s 1909 gothic splendor evokes the ballroom atmosphere of The Shining’s fictional Overlook Hotel, opened the same year. Summon its glamorous spirit with us in support of extraordinary, timely opera.

A Night at the Overlook Hotel

The Regency Ballroom

Experience the magic of jazz at its finest with the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour, featuring an ensemble of jazz luminaries including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Lakecia Benjamin, Christian Sands, Yasushi Nakamura, and Clarence Penn. This special event is set to take place on Thursday, April 20, 2023, at 8:00 PM at The Music Center at Strathmore.

Celebrating its 65th anniversary, the Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the jazz world's most enduring and essential institutions. The tour brings together an unparalleled lineup of talent, with NEA Jazz Master, Grammy and Tony Award-winner Dee Dee Bridgewater and Grammy winner Kurt Elling leading the charge. Under the musical direction of five-time Grammy nominee Christian Sands, this ensemble promises an unforgettable evening of jazz excellence.

The performance will showcase the artistry of 2020’s DownBeat Critics Poll Rising Star Alto Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, alongside the dynamic rhythm section of bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Clarence Penn. This event is not just a concert but a celebration of jazz's rich history and its vibrant future.

Co-presented with Strathmore, the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour is a highlight of Washington Performing Arts’s The World in Our City initiative, promoting cross-cultural understanding and cultural diplomacy. Don't miss this opportunity to savor the world-renowned sound of the Monterey Jazz Festival right here in the DMV.

Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour

The Music Center at Strathmore

One of the jazz world’s longest-running and most-iconic events, the Monterey Jazz Festival celebrates its 65th year with a must-hear once-in-a-lifetime ensemble. Featuring Tony- and Grammy Award-winning NEA Jazz Master vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater alongside Grammy Award-winning vocalist Kurt Elling and critically acclaimed rising-star saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, this stellar band will be directed by visionary pianist Christian Sands and anchored by his longtime rhythm section, bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Clarence Penn.

Walt Disney Concert Hall

For 65 years, the Monterey Jazz Festival has played host to the greatest names in jazz. Now hear a collection of outstanding jazz stars in one performance as the Monterey Jazz Festival goes on tour.

McCallum Theatre

The illustrious Monterey Jazz Festival once again sends six of its finest jazz ambassadors to Berkeley as part of its popular touring program. Multiple-Grammy-winning vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater, among the “best-rounded and unique jazz vocalists singing today” (All About Jazz), and Kurt Elling, “the standout male jazz vocalist of our time” (The New York Times), scat, swoon, and soar as they bring swing standards, moody ballads, bop favorites, and Latin hits to life. The hard-swinging band is led by pianist Christian Sands, with rising-star saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin (Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys), and the well-oiled rhythm section of bassist Yasushi Nakamura (Wynton Marsalis, Hank Jones) and drummer Clarence Penn (Betty Carter, Maria Schneider).

Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour

University of California, Berkeley

A restless explorer who has collaborated with master musicians of Mali, interpreted the cabaret of Kurt Weill, and embraced the hard bop of Horace Silver, 2017 NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater brings a powerful new program she calls We Exist!, accompanied by a stellar rhythm section including pianist Alexis Lombre, bassist Liany Mateo, and drummer Shirazette Tinnin.

Vocalist

Dee Dee Bridgewater

Events

Upcoming events

20 - 21 Mar, 2027

Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet · San Francisco Jazz

Past events

Jul 18, 2026

DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER We Exist! · Fondazione Teatro Donizetti

Jan 22, 2026

Dee Dee Bridgewater with Bill Charlap ·

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