Hot off the February 2 release of her latest album, “Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee,” Grammy and Tony award-winning jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will make her debut at the Jefferson Center Tuesday, February 16 at 7:30 p.m. to perform a tribute to one of the greatest jazz vocalists of all time – Billie Holiday.
A follow up to 2007’s “Red Earth: A Malian Journey,” Eleanora Fagan honors the iconic jazz figure, Billie Holiday, who died tragically at the age of 44 a half-century ago. The album includes Bridgewater’s own interpretations of classic Holiday tunes such as “Lady Sings the Blues,” “All of Me,” “Lover Man” and the gospel-tinged “God Bless the Child.”
Of the new album Bridgewater says, “I want people to come away feeling so good that it piques their curiosity to learn more about the real Billie Holiday…the joy, the love, her courage and power as a songwriter, not just the dark, tragic parts of her life. Billie deserves to have her music heard in another light.”
Bridgewater herself is no stranger to the life of Billie Holiday. Her tour de force portrayal of Holiday in the Stephan Stahl theatrical production, Lady Day – based on the singer’s autobiography, “Lady Sings the Blues” – garnered the singer and actress a Laurence Olivier award nomination.
Her multifaceted career has included two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award for her role as Glinda the Good Witch in “The Wiz” and a French Victoire de la Musique award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
She is an ambassador for the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization and serves as host of NPR’s “JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.”
Bridgewater will be joined on stage by longtime band mate, pianist Edsel Gomez, who wrote new arrangements for the 12 songs on the album, Ira Coleman on bass, Greg Hutchinson on drums, and other special guest musicians.
Tickets are on sale at the Jefferson Center Box Office, by phone at (540) 345-2550, or online at www.jeffcenter.org. Tickets range in price from $22-32. Half-priced student tickets are available.