Dee Dee Bridgewater This Is Dee Dee Bridgewater: Retrospective (2015)

One of the dozens of undervalued R&B and jazz vocalists active during the '70s and '80s, Sylvia St. James developed a love for music and performance through her mother and grandparents. St. James began in the church and developed an appreciation for classical and jazz; she was offered a scholarship to attend the Chicago Conservatory and study opera, but a family move prevented her from following through. Instead, she performed in bands and an orchestra in the Midwest. A move to California led her to the Shiva Orchestra, as well as recording sessions for George Duke's The Aura Will Prevail, Wayne Henderson's Big Daddy's Place, and Gabor Szabo's Faces.

After performing a wide variety of music (much of it commercial) for 15 years, in the mid-'80s Dee Dee Bridgewater returned to jazz. The highly appealing vocalist, although still involved in theater work and other areas of music, has mostly recorded straight-ahead jazz ever since, carving out a niche for herself. This set with her regular French quartet has Bridgewater exploring and swinging some of her favorite standards. She makes such veteran songs as "Just One of Those Things," "What Is This Thing Called Love," "Autumn Leaves," and "Lullaby of Birdland" sound fresh and new. Bridgewater's next project would be a set of Horace Silver songs, and two of the pianist's originals ("Love Vibrations" and "Sister Sadie") are included and point toward the singer's future. This CD is highly recommended, as are all of Dee Dee Bridgewater's Verve recordings.

After performing a wide variety of music (much of it commercial) for 15 years, in the mid-'80s Dee Dee Bridgewater returned to jazz. The highly appealing vocalist, although still involved in theater work and other areas of music, has mostly recorded straight-ahead jazz ever since, carving out a niche for herself. This set with her regular French quartet has Bridgewater exploring and swinging some of her favorite standards.

Singer & actress Dee Dee Bridgewater recorded four albums for the Warner Brothers group of labels between 1976 and 1980, one for Atlantic and three for Elektra; for the very first time Robinsongs have combined these Albums on a 2 CD collection.