Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee

At least since its 1997 included Ella Fitzgerald tribute, the singer Dee Dee Bridgewater her place in the Olympus of Jazz goddesses secure. In about forty (not just stylistically) changing careers years ago by the Bridgewater talented young artist who debuted in 1970 as a singer of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra has risen to become one of the biggest stars of the jazz scene. For quite a few it is even the last true jazz diva, who may be in the same breath as the undisputed goddess to call this genre: Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday. At their most recent recording "Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee" Dee Dee Bridgewater is now honors the jazz legend Billie Holiday, who died half a century ago tragically early age of 44.

"With this album, I pay tribute to a singer, singers as it enabled me to build a career on my own kind of respect," said Bridgewater who 1986/87 in Paris and London in the triumphant solo theater production of "Lady Day" (based on the biography of the singer, "Lady Sings the Blues," was based) Billie Holiday embodied. The role brought a Dee Dee is not only a nomination for the Prix Laurence Olivier, but took them back after a few musical twists and turns to her jazz roots. "I wanted to 'give Eleanora Fagan' another touch: modern and festive, not somber and emotional. I wanted a happy-sounding album."

Attaches Bridgewater, on 27 May her 60th Birthday party is also on the statement that "Eleanora Fagan" is not a traditional tribute album with rundumerneuerten Holiday-pieces, but is much deeper. "Billie, it deserves to be performing their music in a different light," says Dee Dee, "and I laid it definitely is not a matter of imitating them."

The key to the refreshing approach to the music provided the Puerto Rican pianist Edsel Gómez, a member of Bridgewater's band for three years and wrote the arrangements of the twelve songs of this new album. The best examples for his Arrangierkünste include the "(with African polyrhythms charged rendition of" Lady Sings the Blues with the same time at Dee Dee's Mali-album "Red Earth" is angeknüpft), the harmonic revamped version of "All Of Me" and the gospel flavored "God Bless The Child". In his arrangements Gómez thought whatsoever to the individual personalities of the all-star band that Bridgewater had assembled for this recording: on the dynamic James Carter, who plays all the instruments of the saxophone and clarinet family, the agile bassist Christian McBride and the brilliant drummer Lewis Nash.

Billie Holiday is not the first monumental figure in the music world, which pays tribute to Dee Dee Bridgewater: Earlier recordings they already devoted Horace Silver ( "Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver, 1995), Ella Fitzgerald (the album" Dear Ella " , 1997, was awarded two Grammys) and Kurt Weill ( "This Is New", 2002).
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