Dee Dee Bridgewater vocals · Carmen Staaf piano and musical direction · Rosa Brunello doublebass · Evita Polidoro drums
In 1960, Max Roach released the iconic album We Insist!. Six decades later, Dee Dee Bridgewater presents We Exist!, a tribute to the great women who turned their art into a powerful call for activism. The project revisits timeless songs such as Mississippi Goddam, Trying Times, The Danger Zone, and others. Bridgewater leads a stellar quartet under the direction of pianist Carmen Staff, a member of the Thelonious Monk Institute and celebrated by DownBeat magazine.
Supported by The Woodshed Network, a program led by Bridgewater herself to promote the presence of women in jazz, We Exist! features talented and acclaimed artists: Amina Scott and Shirazette Tinnin in the U.S., and Rosa Brunello and Evita Polidoro in Europe. Born in Memphis in 1950, Dee Dee Bridgewater is a true jazz legend, a vocalist who began her career with the Thad Jones and Mel Lewis Orchestra and went on to perform with Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach, and other luminaries. Her solo career has been prolific, impactful, and widely celebrated.
