Chit-Chat with singer Dee Dee Bridgewater: Bridgewater and 'Lady Day'

Performer Dee Dee Bridgewater has a spiritual connection to jazz legend Billie Holiday. At first, it was unsettling for Bridgewater — until she embraced it. Now, she celebrates the infamous “Lady Day” in her own way and in her own voice. Bridgewater performs “To Billie With Love: A Celebration of ‘Lady Day’” on Saturday, Nov. 7 at the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn. She will perform songs off her upcoming album that will be a tribute to the life and music of Holiday.

Dee Dee Bridgewater. SUBMITTED PHOTO

You starred as Billie Holiday in a musical in the 1980s called, “Lady Day.” What was it like portraying her?
I was fascinated with Billie’s life. I bought her biography at 19. I could identify with her in a lot of different areas in her life. Once I got cast for the play, I listened to her music, watched her films, so I could study her voice. To portray her was unsettling for me. I felt possessed by her. It got to a point that I was getting letters in the mail addressed to Billie Holiday. She consumed me. I could sing like her. I could talk like her. I can still talk like her.

So what made you want to pursue this tribute album after that?
I was going to do an album in conjunction with the play (in the 1980s), but I had some financial setbacks... I wanted to do the album in celebration of music, so that people can hear me celebrate the music, not with this voice thing I can do of Billie. On the album, I sing a lot of the songs she wrote and that are associated with her and that were from the play.

Your upcoming concert — you’re not portraying Billie Holiday, correct?
I’m not portraying Billie Holiday. I’m singing her music in my voice. The concert will be music from my upcoming album, so I’m giving the audience a preview of my new album. What I hope to do with the (Billie Holiday) concert in the future is have it as a multimedia experience — with some pictures or video footage. I want to present the audience with something more, but I won’t be able to do that until next year.

You’re working on a Billie Holiday tribute album. What’s the title of the album, and when will it be released?
It’s called “Eleanora Fagan, 1917-1959: To Billie With Love From Dee Dee,” and it’s going to be released in February 2010. I have an extraordinary band on this album. I have Grammy-nominated and award-winning musicians playing on this album.
 

HEAR HER SING
WHAT Dee Dee Bridgewater
WHERE McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn; (630) 942-4000, www.atthemac.org
WHEN 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7
HOW MUCH $36 to $46