Dee Coding Shakespeare

Dee Dee Bridgewater performs 13 of Horace Silver's songs on her very well-conceived release. On most selections she is accompanied by her French quintet, but there are also two guest appearances apiece for organist Jimmy Smith and pianist Silver ("Nice's Dream" and "Song for My Father"). Bridgewater uplifts Silver's lyrics, proves to be in prime form, and swings up a storm. Other high points include "Filthy McNasty," "Doodlin'," and "Blowin' the Blues Away." A gem.

Dee Dee Bridgewater - Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love (2010) {DDB Records–EmArcy 0602527241555}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 349 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 124 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 40 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2010 DDB Records / EmArcy | 0602527241555
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Bop / Standards / Contemporary Jazz

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Dee Dee Bridgewater chose to record a tribute album to Billie Holiday. In quick succession beginning in the mid-'90s Bridgewater cut tribute albums to Ella Fitzgerald, Horace Silver, and Kurt Weill, and prior to that, in the late '80s, she was nominated for an award for her one-woman star turn in a European theater production of Lady Day, the Holiday story. That Bridgewater would eventually turn to Holiday (whose given name of Eleanora Fagan explains the title) for an album-length exploration was almost a given – it was just a question of when. It's one of her grandest efforts, too.

Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater's 2015 effort, Dee Dee's Feathers, is a vibrant jazz showcase that pays homage to the history of New Orleans and marks the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. A collaboration between Bridgewater, New Orleans trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO), the album finds Bridgewater combining her love of New Orleans' musical past with the Crescent City's vibrant present. Recorded at Esplanade Studios, a historic 1920s church turned music studio in heart of the Treme neighborhood in New Orleans, Dee Dee's Feathers has a lush, organic sound. Bridgewater is backed here by Mayfield and his band, featuring guitarist/banjo player Don Vappie, drummer Adonis Rose, pianist Victor Atkins, and bassist Khari Allen Lee. Also featured on the album are several guests, including such New Orleans icons as keyboardist Dr. John and percussionist Bill Summers…