JAS Cafe Style. Showtimes 6:30pm & 8:45pm.
Early Show Ticket Pricing (6:30pm) | $75 Main Room Seating – $30 Bar Seating
Late Show Pricing (8:45pm) | $55 Main Room Seating – $30 Bar Seating
Dee Dee Bridgewater, a Grammy and Tony Award-winning jazz icon, has spent over four decades at the forefront of vocal jazz, celebrated for her fearless artistry and genre-defying creativity. From her early days with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band in the 1970s, she collaborated with jazz greats like Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, and Dizzy Gillespie. After a successful foray into pop in the 1980s, she returned to jazz in Paris, launching a prolific recording career marked by multiple Grammy wins, including her tribute albums Eleanora Fagan (1915–1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee and Dear Ella. In 2006, she founded DDB Records, producing all her own albums to critical acclaim.
Bridgewater has also enjoyed a vibrant career in theater, winning a Tony Award in 1975 for her role as Glinda in The Wiz and earning a Laurence Olivier nomination for Lady Day. Her stage credits span productions such as Sophisticated Ladies, Carmen, Cabaret, and Black Ballad. Beyond the stage, she served as the longtime host of NPR’s JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater, amplifying jazz for audiences worldwide.
In addition to her artistry, Bridgewater is a dedicated humanitarian, serving as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization to fight global hunger. Her many honors include the 2017 NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, the ASCAP Foundation Champions Award, the 2018 Doris Duke Artist Award, and induction into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2019. That same year, she launched The Woodshed Network, a mentorship initiative for women in jazz, where she continues to serve as Artistic Director.
In recent years, Bridgewater has hosted major jazz events, including the NEA Jazz Masters Virtual Tribute Concerts (2020, 2021) and the inaugural Jazz Music Awards (2022). She remains an active and dynamic performer, touring internationally with her big band and quartet and in a duo with Grammy-winning pianist Bill Charlap while continuing to champion the next generation of jazz musicians.