Acclaimed Jazz Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater to Perform in Sofia

text by Balkan Travellers, photo by Philippe Pierangeli (official web site of Dee Dee Bridgewater), Jan 25, 2008

Jazz-lovers will be able to enjoy a live performance by one of the world’s most acclaimed and loved singers, Dee Dee Bridgewater, in Bulgaria’s capital. The concert will take place on March 18 in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture.

The brand new programme of the songstress includes the presentation of her latest album, Red Earth: a Malian Journey. Described by her as the culmination of her decision to discover her African roots, it combines voices, music and instruments of Mali with those of the North American jazz tradition.

It is Dee Dee Bridgewater’s attempt not to simply create a jazz album with some Afro colour but rather a complete project with some of the best African singers and musicians who play traditional instruments, according to the concert’s organisers, who add that some of the instruments will be seen, heard and experiences for the first time by Bulgarian audiences.

Sofia and Istanbul are the only Balkan stops on her international tour, which starts on February 8 with a performance in New York City’s Carnegie Hall. Other shows are planned for cities in Central and Eastern Europe and Morocco.

Dee Dee Bridgewater has an extremely multifaceted profile. Besides being a renowned jazz performer for which she has received two Grammy Awards, she is also an actress, a producer and an ambassador to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation. This is the second time she sings in Bulgaria, after performance to a fully-packed Hall 1 in 2006.