Interview. Jazz legend Dee Dee Bridgewater: Young females have to be tough in this industry

Newsroom 29/07/2016 | 14:30

World jazz legend Dee Dee Bridgewater was on stage on the last day of JazzTM, giving an amazing show. With hundreds crowding the permanent seating area in Timisoara’s Victoriei Square and hundreds more enjoying the concert from the edges, Bridgewater electrified the audience. What is it like to be a living legend of jazz? Business Review went behind the scene with the star to find out.

Oana Vasiliu

You once said that jazz music is marketed incorrectly as a genre only for intellectuals, and nowadays young people are not very interested in it. What do you think it would take to change their minds?

I think that there is a new movement of young people towards jazz music and live music and that’s something I have noticed in the last two years, especially at my concerts where I see more young people coming. I don’t know if this is something that is happening for jazz in general or is just for my gigs because I’m working with young musicians. The leader of my group, the trumpet player Theo Croker, who is a musician in his own right and whom I’ve been tutoring for five years now, is beginning to have his own reputation. Maybe at my concerts it is a combination of these two things – meeting me and meeting him. But this is just my personal observation. I also believe that live music in general is starting to suffer because of these new devices and social media. It seems we are going more and more into online streaming instead of purchasing so the whole recording industry suffers.  For me, the most important thing is to play live music and to have interaction with my public, so this social media thing isn’t something I particularly like.

You are back in Romania. How do you find this particular festival?

I simply love it. I particularly love the programming because it’s eclectic. In all the years I lived in France, I really embraced the eclecticism of a lot of the European festivals, but I like this particular festival because you seem to focus on more different jazz music and styles from all over the place. But what I think is fabulous is the fact that you mix local jazz players with international ones, something that a lot of festivals don’t do.

How do you comment upon the fact that lots of jazz festivals are happening outside the US, where jazz was born?

The European public is very important for jazz music because summer is a period of festivals and I actually do more festivals in Europe then I do in the US, and yes, the European public is excellent. These festivals provide opportunities for everyone: to meet people, discover new beats, and make friends. I find it great and very healthy for the music itself.

You mentioned before that you mentor young musicians, which is the case with your trumpeter, Theo Croker. How do you choose them?

I met Theo eight years ago in Shanghai when he was in a big band that was backing me at that jazz festival and he did most of the trumpet solos and I was really surprised. Then I came back to Shanghai two years later and I hung out with him because I liked his approach to the trumpet and the fact that he had decided to leave the US to do jazz – he is a young man who is not afraid to step up on his own, following what he is feeling, something that I have always tried to do. I decided to bring him under my wing, back to the States and to Europe. I have a son who is 24 years old and has an ear for musicians, being also a guitar player, so from time to time he talks to me about young musicians whom I should check, and I generally do. In fact, Theo has started to get more and more bookings so I’m starting to watch more closely for new musicians.  All I want is to have fun and I don’t think music has to be serious in order to have a good time.

What advice would you give to a young jazz singer?

This is a strange business and even though women have made their way in it, it’s still tough. One thing that I tell young females is that they have to learn to be tough and not to listen to reviews or critics. They should defend what they really want to do and not allow themselves to be dictated to in terms of what music to do. I tell young musicians that they need to learn as much as they can about the music. Today, it seems that the better armed you are, the better off you are. Furthermore, they should know about the business behind the music because so many young people are not interested in this aspect, but you have to learn how to take care of yourself.

 

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