After making her New York debut in 1970 as the lead vocalist for the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band, Dee Dee went on to work may of the great names in jazz including Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach and Roland Kirk. Branching out into musical theatre, she created a successful one-woman show dedicated to Billie Holiday, Lady Day, and brought it to Europe in the 1980s. Settled in France since then, she has ranged over jazz, soul and French chanson; She was made a Commandeur de L’Ordre des Artes et des Lettres in May 2007.

‘This project is my ode to Mali and to Africa; it is the story of a lost child finding her way home. It is my reawakening’ Dee Dee Bridgewater

Her most recent project, which she brings to the Barbican, is Red Earth (DDB/Emarcy) which uses many Malian musicians and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy award. Dee Dee will be accompanied by a transatlantic group consisting of backing vocalists Kabine Kouyate and Mamani Keita, Cherif Soumano (kora), Mare Sanogo (djembe), Yakouba Sissoko (talking drum, n’goni), Lansine Kouyate (balafon), Edsel Gomez (piano), Ira Coleman (bass) and Minino Garay (drums).

‘A cracking album that unites great jazz singing with the Malian griot tradition … neither fusion nor compromise but a happy meeting of African musicianship and Afro-American romanticism’ – The Guardian

‘Dee Dee Bridgewater has the jazz world standing on its ears. With the passing of many grand dames of jazz such as Ella and Sarah, Dee Dee Bridgewater is becoming a legend in her own time’ – JazzReview.com

Fri 28 Mar 8pm
Dee Dee Bridgewater: Red Earth, a Malian Journey
Produced by the Barbican in association with Serious
Tickets £15/20/25

Concert at the Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS

Box Office: 0845 120 7550
www.barbican.org.uk