The Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet

A versatile artist, fearless explorer, pioneer and guardian 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 spanned genres: She gained her first professional experience as a member of the legendary Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band, and in the 1970s she performed with jazz greats such as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie. After a foray into the pop world in the 1980s, she moved to Paris and returned to jazz.

In 1993, Bridgewater began producing her own music with her album Keeping Tradition (Polydor/Verve). In 2006 she founded her own label, DDB Records, when she joined Universal Music Group as a producer - since then she has produced all her albums herself. With a string of critically acclaimed releases - including her double Grammy-winning Dear Ella, a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald - almost every one of her albums has been nominated for a Grammy.

Parallel to her music career, Bridgewater also pursued a career in musical theater. In 1975, she won a Tony Award for her role as "Glinda" in The Wiz. Her other theater engagements include Sophisticated Ladies, Black Ballad, Carmen, Cabaret and the off-Broadway and West End productions of Lady Day, in which she played the lead role of Billie Holiday. For this performance she was nominated for the British Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Bridgewater also hosted the popular syndicated NPR radio program JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater, produced by Becca Pulliam for WBGO.
As a Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Bridgewater continues to advocate for international solidarity to fund global grassroots projects in the fight against hunger. In April 2017, she was honored with the NEA Jazz Masters Fellows Award at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In December 2017, she received the ASCAP Foundation Champions Award for her charitable contributions.

In 2018, Bridgewater was honored with the prestigious Doris Duke Artist Award. In 2019, she was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in recognition of her contributions to music and in celebration of her latest album Memphis, Yes... I'm Ready. That same year, she founded The Woodshed Network, a nonprofit partnership with 651 Arts dedicated to promoting, networking, supporting and educating women in jazz. Bridgewater serves as Artistic Director with significant support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

In 2020, Dee Dee Bridgewater hosted the first virtual NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert. Due to its success, she also co-hosted the event in 2021 with renowned actor Delroy Lindo. In 2022, Bridgewater and Lindo took to the stage again to host the first edition of the Jazz Music Awards. In 2023, she oversaw the fourth year of The Woodshed Network.

Bridgewater continues to be a driving force in jazz, both as an artist and as a mentor. She tours regularly with her Dee Dee Bridgewater Big Band, her quartet and as a duo with Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap.