Dee Dee Bridgewater@The Grammy Museum 08.11.11
By George W. Harris

To celebrate her latest release of Midnight Sun, a collection of her favorite love songs from her previous albums, Dee Dee Bridgewater came to the Grammy Museum for the rare treat of an intimate interview with Robert Santelli and an even more intimate series of duets with pianist Edsel Gomez.

The collection of songs Ms. Bridgewater performed easily demonstrated not only why she’s been awarded two Grammys, but a Tony as well. Her living out the lyrics of tunes like “Midnight Sun” or Ivan Lins’ “The Island” shows her ability to deliver agonizingly beautiful emphasis on the words, caressing each syllable and nuance. Gomez is the perfect dance partner here, as he gently rolls and caresses the keys on a tune like “Angel Eyes” which has Bridgewater enunciating with a tenacious and penetrating grip. You can feel the weight of every word on a song like “Good Morning, Heartache,” making you viscerally aware of every thought behind the words. This isn’t singing, this was living.