CD/LP/Track Review
Dee Dee Bridgewater: Live At Yoshi
C. Michael Bailey
...wants to know if Gene Harris is playing "Summertime" in Heaven...
Power. Dee Dee Bridgewater is as formidable a vocalist as anyone singing. She is the Jackie Joiner of jazz vocalists. Her athletic style is infectious and she proves she is one of the few who jazz vocalists who can effectively scat and use other Betty Carter-like fireworks. Her scatting is superb, mimicking a trombone on “Stairway to the Stars” and a saxophone on “Cherokee”. Her ballad singing and upbeat singing are equal in intensity. She may be the best-rounded and unique jazz vocalists singing today. Her support is excellent, never (as if they could) getting in the way of Bridgewater. Eliez’s organ on “Cherokee” is worth the full price Verve puts on their discs. Her banter with the crowd is engaging and in no way takes away form this absolutely superb vocal offering.
Track Listing: Undecided; Slow Boat To China; Stairway To The Stars; What A Little Moonlight Can Do; Sex Machine; Midnight Sun; Cherokee; Love For Sale; Cottontail.
Personnel: Dee Dee Bridgewater: vocals; Thomas Bramerie: bass; Ali Jackson: drums; Thierry Eliez: piano, organ.
Record Label: Verve Music Group | Style: Straight-ahead/Mainstream
