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| Dee Dee Bridgewater |
Friday evening at the Detroit School of the Arts
Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Dee Dee
Bridgewater performed with Detroit’s Gathering Orchestra, which is comprised of some of Detroit’s top jazz
musicians. The performance was part of the Carr Center’s 2019 concert series,
and Bridgewater was wrapping up a weeklong residency
at the DSA, mentoring members of the school’s jazz vocal orchestra. Bridgewater
was visibly under the weather although her voice, which is one of the best in
jazz, was still in top form. Being sick didn’t hinder Bridgewater from giving
the near-capacity audience a wonderful
show. Bridgewater divided the concert
into two parts, dedicating the first half to
tunes the great Ella Fitzgerald immortalized such as “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” and “Undecided,”
and the second half to some of Billie Holiday’s staples such as “God Bless the
Child.” A few times Bridgewater flubbed.
Once starting with the wrong tune, and the second stopping the orchestra to check that she was in the right key. Bridgewater has such a stage-presence the audience
didn’t care about her flubs. Each time Bridgewater recovered nicely. It’s
amazing watching her work an audience. During the performance, Bridgewater
seemed to have tapped the spirits of both Fitzgerald and Holiday. I have never
been a big fan of a vocalist backed by an orchestra. Orchestras tend to
overwhelm, but that wasn’t the case with the Gathering Orchestra, which has
only been around for a few years but sounds as good as any noted jazz orchestra
making the rounds these days. What’s wonderful about the Gathering Orchestra is
it is comprised of a cross-section of jazz musicians such as vets
Michael Deas, Dwight Adams, and Diego Rivera, and some young lions such as
Kasan Belgrave, Trunino Lowe, and Ian
Finkelstein. The orchestra didn’t step on Bridgewater’s toes as she belted hit
after hit. Hell, it appeared Bridgewater has been touring with the
orchestra for years. The evening was full of highlights, and some humorous
banter from Bridgewater and the orchestra’s director bassist Rodney Whitaker.
One memorable section was when Bridgewater invited the DSA Vocal Jazz Orchestra
on stage to perform two selections. The orchestra looked good and sounded even
better. It’s good to witness a group of teenage musicians who take the jazz music
seriously. The audience rewarded the youngsters with an ovation. After the vocal
orchestra exited the stage, Bridgewater returned to work stripping the paint from Billie Holiday staples and
modernizing them. Although Bridgewater was under the weather, she delivered a
damn good show, which honestly wasn’t surprising
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