(August 30, 2017) “These were songs I listened to on the famous Black radio station WDIA, where my own father, Matthew Garrett, was a young on-air DJ with the moniker ‘Matt the Platter Cat.’ I was born in Memphis but my family migrated north to Flint, Michigan, when I was 3 years old. The South has always remained buried inside me, and coming back for this recording project has brought me full circle in my life.” -- Dee Dee Bridgewater
(August 30, 2017) “These were songs I listened to on the famous Black radio station WDIA, where my own father, Matthew Garrett, was a young on-air DJ with the moniker ‘Matt the Platter Cat.’ I was born in Memphis but my family migrated north to Flint, Michigan, when I was 3 years old. The South has always remained buried inside me, and coming back for this recording project has brought me full circle in my life.” -- Dee Dee Bridgewater
Memphis, Tennessee. Every picture tells a story; every journey begins differently. The story of Dee Dee Bridgewater's stunning new album, "Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready," which arrives on September 15, begins in that city, where she was born at Collins Chapel Hospital, located not far from where the album was recorded at Producer Willie Mitchell's historic Royal Studios. Dee Dee's father, a trumpet player also affectionately known as "Matt the Platter Cat" was a DJ at WDIA, the top Memphis radio station. Even when the family moved to neighboring Flint, Michigan, as a young girl Dee Dee would listen to the great sounds of the Memphis music scene by tuning-in late night from across state lines. And oh what a music scene it was!
Co-producing the album in tandem with Memphis native and Grammy-winning musician Kirk Whalum as well as Willie Mitchell's son - Grammy-winning Engineer Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell and Bridgewater's daughter/manager, Tulani Bridgewater. "Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready was recorded at Royal Studios in the Fall of 2016 after multiple visits to the city over a period of several years, visits during which Bridgewater absorbed as much of the music and culture and heart and soul of the city as she could possibly consume.
To lead off the album, Dee Dee takes on a 1973 Ann Peebles classic and makes it her own. "I Can't Stand The Rain" has been recorded dozens of times, but rarely with the emotion and the killer arrangements in the new version that Dee Dee brings. We're proud to present the WORLD PREMIERE of this great new song, and are looking forward to the rest of the album.
Check out the return of Dee Dee Bridgewater below, and tell us what you think!
WORLD PREMIERE!
Dee Dee Bridgewater
"I Can't Stand The Rain"
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