Valentine’s Day comes early when Grammy® and Tony® award-winning jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater returns to the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts to perform highlights from her soon-to-be-released album Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 7:30 PM.
Tickets for the performance are $20-$45. For tickets or for more information, please visit www.AnnenbergCenter.org or call 215.898.3900. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Annenberg Center Box Office. This is the final performance of the 2009/10 Penn Presents Jazz Series.
A follow up to 2007’s Red Earth: A Malian Journey, Eleanora Fagan (release date February 2, 2010) honors the iconic jazz figure, Billie Holiday, who died tragically at the age of 44 a half-century ago. The album includes Bridgewater’s own interpretations of classic Holiday tunes such as “Lady Sings the Blues, ““All of Me,” “Lover Man” and the gospel-tinged “God Bless the Child.”
Of the new album Bridgewater says, “I want people to come away feeling so good that it piques their curiosity to learn more about the real Billie Holiday … the joy, the love, her courage and power as a songwriter; not just the dark, tragic parts of her life. Billie deserves to have her music heard in another light.” Bridgewater herself is no stranger to the life of Billie Holiday. Her tour de force portrayal of Holiday in the Stephan Stahl theatrical production, Lady Day – based on the singer’s autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues – garnered the singer and actress a Laurence Olivier award nomination.
Bridgewater will be joined on stage by longtime band mate, pianist Edsel Gomez, who wrote new arrangements for the 12 songs on the album, Ira Coleman on bass, Greg Hutchinson on drums, and other special guest musicians.
Bridgewater’s multifaceted career has garnered two Grammy® Awards, a Tony® Award for her role as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz and a French Victoire de la Musique award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. She is an ambassador for the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization and serves as host of NPR’s “JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.”
She last appeared at the Annenberg Center in 2006. Special Valentine’s Day Package Jazz up your Valentine’s Day with the Annenberg Center’s Sweetheart Package – dinner, a concert and a red rose for only $50! This specially designed package features a three-course prix-fix dinner menu at Penne Restaurant & Wine Bar (3611 Walnut Street), a ticket to hear the incredible Dee Dee Bridgewater (excludes orchestra level seats) and a long-stemmed red rose.
All Sweetheart package ticket buyers will also be automatically entered to win a signed copy of Bridgewater’s latest album, a bottle of champagne, and two tickets to an upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet, as performed by two Tony® Award-winning companies, The Acting Company and The Guthrie Theater.
To learn more about this incredible deal visit www.AnnenbergCenter.org/sweetheart.
Leave a Comment