Dee Dee Bridgewater Announced as Detroit Jazz Festival’s 2020 Artist-in-Residence

Legendary Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater
Announced as Detroit Jazz Festival’s
2020 Artist-in-Residence

The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation proudly presents the GRAMMY® and Tony Award-winning jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater as its Artist-in-Residence for the 2020 Detroit Jazz Festival.

As the 2020 Artist-in-Residence, Bridgewater will support Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation educational clinics for students and community engagements across the region throughout the year in addition to leading multiple diverse performances during Labor Day Weekend.

“Dee Dee Bridgewater’s timeless voice, legendary career accomplishments and indomitable spirit are what makes her such a special selection for our Artist-in-Residence this year,” said Chris Collins, president and artistic director of the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation. “We’re excited to have Dee Dee, a true and treasured jazz vocalist, headline what will be another exceptional showing of Detroit’s jazz gift to the world.”

Over the course of a multifaceted career spanning four decades, iconic 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 most recently won the GRAMMY® for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee.

Bridgewater’s career has always bridged musical genres. She earned her first professional experience as a member of the legendary Thad Jones/Mel Louis Big Band, and throughout the ’70s she performed with such jazz notables as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie.

Bridgewater also pursued a parallel career in musical theater, winning a Tony Award® for her role as “Glinda” in the The Wiz in 1975. She recently completed a run as the lead role of Billie Holiday in the off-Broadway production of Lady Day, for which Bridgewater received the British Laurence Olivier nomination for best actress in a musical. Her other theatrical credits include Sophisticated Ladies, Black Ballad and Carmen.

As a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Bridgewater continues to appeal for international solidarity to finance global grassroots projects in the fight against world hunger.

The Detroit Jazz Festival will be held in downtown Detroit on September 4 – 7.

About the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation

Under the leadership of President and Artistic Director Chris Collins, the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization that presents jazz and educational workshops throughout the year. The Foundation produces the Detroit Jazz Festival, which is the signature event for the Foundation and the largest free jazz festival in the world. The Festival is also a major tourist attraction for the City of Detroit, with 26 percent of its audience coming from out of state. For more information, visit detroitjazzfest.org.

The Foundation receives grant funding from the Kresge Foundation, Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Arts Midwest, D’Addario Foundation and Carolyn Wanzo and the Purify Wanzo CTAA Endowment at Wayne State University. Hundreds of individuals also contribute to the Festival through membership and donations.

Major corporate partners include Quicken Loans, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., DTE Foundation, Carhartt, Inc., Mack Avenue Music Group, Absopure, Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe and Comcast Cable. Additional partners include AARP, AMTECH International, Andiamo, Ascension Michigan, Bedrock Detroit, Bingham Legal Group, Blue Note at Sea, Central Michigan University, Cliff Bell’s, Creative Day Technologies, Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, Display Group, Domino’s, Downtown Detroit Partnership, Element Detroit at the Metropolitan, Fifth Third Bank, George Johnson & Company, Giffels Webster, Grand Valley State University, Greektown Casino-Hotel, MGM Grand Detroit, Oakland University, Pepsi, Plante Moran, Rocket Fiber, SMART Bus, Schupan SustainAbility™, Steinway Piano Gallery of Detroit, Stella Artois, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Wayne State University and Woodward Gallery.

Media partners include Fox 2 Detroit, WJR Newstalk 760 AM, WEMU-FM, DownBeat, JazzTimes, Metro Times, Michigan Chronicle, WDET-FM 101.9, WRCJ 90.9 FM and Detroit Public Television.

For more information, please visit:

DetroitJazzFest.org | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

For media inquiries, please contact:

DL Media · 267-541-2784
Maureen McFadden · maureen@dlmediamusic.com
Nuria Hunter · nuria@dlmediamusic.com

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