“What is happening in New Orleans now is that it’s a type of renaissance city,” she says. “The people here are very, very proud that the city has come as far as it has in ten years. There are a lot of people who have not and will not come back. Irvin himself lost his father in Katrina. Just working with him is a kind of humbling experience, to see this young man who himself lost so much in Katrina and who believes so whole-heartedly in this city and wants to do so much for his community. I am a person who feels very strongly about family, about close friends and community, and this here is the birthplace of jazz. So to come here and work, to be embraced like I have been – not just by the band, but by the city itself – is quite unusual, and I’m very moved by it. It made me feel like I belong.”
This acceptance paved the way for Dee Dee’s Feathers, a collection of traditional jazz favourites embedded in the cultural history of the Big Easy. As it turns out, we’re quite lucky to have this record, because Bridgewater and Mayfield initially didn’t plan on it being a commercial release.
“Well, it was originally conceived to be a CD that would be sold only at the new New Orleans Jazz Market,” Bridgewater explains. “But after we recorded it and listened to the final product, I thought ‘This is much better than I had anticipated’. So then my daught-ager, who is my daughter who is my manager, got in touch with Sony who said ‘Absolutely’. So that’s how that happened.”
Bridgewater suddenly drops into a more serious, reflective tone. “I was in a particular space at the time,” she says, “having had to move cities, get settled in, touring at the same time. It was crazy. I said to my daughter, ‘I just can’t do this.’ So I’m very pleased with the result. It has this live element to it, this rawness, so it doesn’t sound too polished. All I said to Irvin was that I wanted it to have that real feeling of New Orleans, and I wanted to make sure everyone involved in the project was from New Orleans, and this is what we ended with.”
In a career spanning four decades, and with highlights as varied as leaves in a gale, it must be incredibly difficult for Bridgewater to isolate the musical moments that have truly stood out for her. However, one that certainly hasn’t faded from memory is Precious Thing, her 1989 duet with the late, remarkable Ray Charles.
“Oh, it was so very surreal,” she says, “to find myself in an actual studio and to have him standing across from me with headphones on, singing. And when Ray says my name in that song, ‘Oh Dee Dee, take your ring,’ I cried. I couldn’t sing and I just started crying. And then he says, ‘What’s the matter, baby girl?’ and we went into the control room, sat down and listened to it, and I thought I sounded like a little girl next to him. And Ray said, ‘I haven’t been inspired by a voice like yours since Betty Carter. Let’s go back in and do the take.’ So we went back in and did the take. It was quite something.”
BY ADAM NORRIS
