There's no question that
Dee Dee Bridgewater is one of America's great jazz vocalists, but that's hardly the only thing she can do.
Bridgewater was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and while her family pulled up stakes for Flint, Michigan when she was only three, she still feels a spiritual connection with the city and its music, and on 2017's
Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready, she puts her love of vintage soul and blues front and center.
Bridgewater recorded
Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready at Royal Recorders, the Bluff City studio where producer
Willie Mitchell cut a string of hits with
Al Green in the '70s, and
Willie's son
Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell co-produced the sessions along with
Dee Dee and her daughter
Tulani Bridgewater.
Mitchell pulled together a splendid studio band for this album, including a few members of the old
Hi Rhythm Section, and they deliver a superb set of soulful grooves, at once swampy and emphatic, with
John Stoddart's electric piano,
Jackie Clark's bass, and
James "Bishop" Sexton's drums generating just the right amount of funk. With a top-shelf soul band cooking behind her,
Dee Dee Bridgewater steps up as a top-shelf soul singer, smooth when she should be, good and gritty when she wants to be, and sounding tough, passionate, and firmly in command at all times. That
Bridgewater delivers on soul classics such as "Yes, I'm Ready," "Try a Little Tenderness," and "B.A.B.Y." is not a great surprise, but her transformation of
B.B. King's blues perennial "The Thrill Is Gone" into a smoky late-night groove is both unexpected and welcome, and she works an impressive transformation on two numbers associated with
Elvis Presley, "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog," finding a tough R&B center inside them. "The Sweeter He Is" gives
Dee Dee a chance to open up her soul and tell us some home truths about cheating men, and the closing performance of the gospel standard "(Take My Hand) Precious Lord" is glorious.
Dee Dee Bridgewater strips off some of the polish from her style on
Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready without betraying her talent or best musical instincts, and this detour into Soul City is a treat that should please her fans, as well as anyone who digs Southern soul. ~ Mark Deming