Dee Dee Bridgewater

Over the course of a multifaceted career spanning four decades, Grammy- and Tony-winning jazz
giant Dee Dee Bridgewater has ascended to the upper echelon of vocalists, putting her unique spin
on standards, as well as taking intrepid leaps of faith in re-envisioning jazz classics. Ever the fearless
voyager, explorer, pioneer, and keeper of tradition, Bridgewater has won three Grammy Awards,
including Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2011 for Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love from
Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Bridgewater's career has always crossed musical genres. She earned her first professional
experience as a member of the legendary Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, and throughout the
'70s she performed with jazz notables such as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, and Dizzy
Gillespie. After a foray into the pop world during the 1980s, she relocated to Paris and began to turn
her attention back to jazz. Bridgewater began self-producing with her 1993 album, Keeping Tradition
(Polydor/Verve), and created DDB Records in 2006 when she signed with Universal Music Group as
a producer (she produces all of her own albums).Theo Croker is signed to DDB Records, and Irvin
Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra released a project on her label in 2014,

Bridgewater also pursued a parallel career in musical theater, winning a Tony Award for her role
as Glinda in The Wiz in 1975. Her other theatrical credits include Sophisticated Ladies, Black Ballad,
Carmen, Cabaret, and Lady Day.

As a Goodwill Ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
Bridgewater continues to appeal for international solidarity to finance global grassroots projects in
the fight against world hunger. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee in 2015, and
she was named a NEA Jazz Masters Fellow in 2017.

Gabrielle Goodman

Gabrielle Goodman is a professor in Berklee's Voice Department. She is well-versed in jazz, R&B,
classical, and gospel music, and has performed with Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Nancy Wilson, and Roberta
Flack, who called Goodman "one of the finest singers around today.” Her 1993 JMT/Polygram debut
release, Travelin’ Light, featuring guitarist Kevin Eubanks, saxophonist Gary Thomas, and drummer
Buddy Williams, brought Goodman international acclaim. She received standing ovations for her
performances at the North Sea and Montreux jazz festivals. Her second release, Until We Love, features
bassist Christian McBride, pianist Mulgrew Miller, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, and saxophonist Gary
Bartz. Goodman is also featured on recordings by Norman Connors and Lonnie Liston Smith.

Goodman won an ASCAP Songwriting Award for "You Can Make the Story Right,” which she wrote
with Chaka Khan, and she also penned jazz compositions for her two albums. She has performed in
both classical and jazz idioms with the Syracuse Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Baltimore
Opera, and the National Symphony. Her theatrical appearances include Maya Angelou’s King and
the Canadian production of Ain't Mishehavin’ costarring Dee Dee Bridgewater. Goodman's television
appearances include the Late Show with David Letterman, The Arsenio Hall Show, A&E Channel, the BBC,
and the German TV show Talk and Swing.