Cecil Bridgewater
Encyclopedia
Biography
Bridgewater was born in Urbana, IllinoisUrbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
and studied at the University of Illinois. He and brother Ron formed the Bridgewater Brothers Band in 1969, and in the 1970s he was married to Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dee Dee Bridgewater is an American Jazz singer. She is a three-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award - winning stage actress and host of National Public Radio's syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater...
. In 1970 he played with Horace Silver
Horace Silver
Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
, and following this with Thad Jones
Thad Jones
Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...
and Mel Lewis
Mel Lewis
Mel Lewis was an American drummer, jazz musician and band leader. He was born Melvin Sokoloff in Buffalo, New York to Russian immigrant parents....
from 1970 to 1976. Also in the 1970s he played with Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
, starting a decades-long association. Elsewhere he has played with Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
, Randy Weston
Randy Weston
Randy Weston , is an American jazz pianist and composer, of Jamaican parentage.-Biography:Weston studied classical piano as a child. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he ran a restaurant that was frequented by many of the leading bebop musicians...
, Charles McPherson, Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than forty years Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note.-Early life:From a very large family with five sisters and nine...
, Roy Brooks
Roy Brooks
Roy Brooks was an American hard bop jazz drummer.-Biography:Brooks was born in Detroit and drummed since childhood. He was an outstanding varsity basketball player as a teenager and was offered a scholarship to the Detroit Institute of Technology; he attended the school for three semesters and...
, Abdullah Ibrahim
Abdullah Ibrahim
Abdullah Ibrahim , born Adolph Johannes Brand, 9 October 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa, and formerly known as Dollar Brand, is a South African pianist and composer...
and Sam Rivers
Sam Rivers
Samuel Carthorne Rivers , is an American jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica and piano....
. Bridgewater's first disc as a leader appeared in 1993. Bridgewater has also composed works premiered by the Cleveland Chamber Orchestra and Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer is an American organization founded in 1974 by the composer John Duffy as a project of the New York State Council on the Arts. It seeks to assist composers in making a living through writing music by sponsoring commissioning, residency, education, and audience interaction...
.
Cecil Bridgewater has become a great supporter of The Jazz Foundation of America
Jazz Foundation of America
The Jazz Foundation of America is a non-profit organization based in Manhattan, New York founded in 1989. The JFA’s programs help jazz and blues musicians in need of emergency funds and connect them with performance opportunities in schools and the community...
in their mission to save the homes and the lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians including musicians that survived Hurricane Katrina. Cecil performed at the 2008 Benefit Concert, “A Great Night in Harlem” at the World Famous Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
.
He is currently teaches as adjunct faculty at Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
, New School, William Paterson University
William Paterson University
William Paterson University is a comprehensive public institution located in Wayne, New Jersey serving nearly 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students through five colleges: , , , , and ....
, and The Juilliard School.
As sideman
With Muhal Richard AbramsMuhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams is an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the Free jazz medium. Abrams compresses both contemporary and traditional ideas into lean, elegant pieces.- Biography :Abrams attended DuSable High School in Chicago...
- The Hearinga SuiteThe Hearinga SuiteThe Hearinga Suite is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1989 and features performances of seven of Abrams compositions by an eighteen member orchestra. Abrams dedicated the music on the album to Steve McCall and Raphael Donald Garrett...
(Black Saint, 1989)
With Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
- Pictures in a FramePictures in a FramePictures in a Frame is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach recorded in 1979 for the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars stating "Although the group would continue to grow and evolve, it was already a pretty impressive unit by 1979...
(Soul Note, 1979) - In the Light (Soul Note, 1982)
- Live at VielharmonieLive at VielharmonieLive at Vielharmonie is a live album by American jazz drummer Max Roach recorded in 1983 in Munich for the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 2½ stars.-Track listing:# "A Little Booker" - 20:28...
(Soul Note, 1983) - It's Christmas AgainIt's Christmas AgainIt's Christmas Again is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach recorded in 1984 for the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 2½ stars stating "It's Christmas Again is a project that for many did not work, but no matter how you slice it, an...
(Soul Note, 1984) - Easy WinnersEasy Winners (album)Easy Winners is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach recorded in 1985 for the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars stating "The wide variety of colors and the consistently-strong improvisations make this a highly recommended set of...
(Soul Note, 1985) - Bright MomentsBright Moments (Max Roach album)Bright Moments is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach recorded in 1986 for the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars calling it "A frequently exquisite yet adventurous album, highly recommended".-Track listing:# "Bright Moments" -...
(Soul Note, 1986)
With Horace Silver
Horace Silver
Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
- Total ResponseTotal ResponseTotal Response is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1971 featuring performances by Silver with Cecil Bridgewater, Harold Vick, Richie Resnicoff, Bob Cranshaw, and Mickey Roker with vocals by Salome Bey, and Andy Bey...
(Blue Note, 1971) - AllAll (Horace Silver album)All is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1972 featuring performances by Silver with Cecil Bridgewater, Harold Vick, Richie Resnicoff, Bob Cranshaw, and Mickey Roker with vocals by Andy Bey, Salome Bey and Gail Nelson...
(Blue Note, 1972)
- Both above albums compiled on The United States of MindThe United States of MindThe United States of Mind is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 2004 compiling the three separate 'Phases' previously released as That Healin' Feelin , Total Response , and All featuring performances by Silver with Randy Brecker, George Coleman, Houston...
(Blue Note, 2004)
With John Stubblefield
John Stubblefield
John Stubblefield was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, and oboist.Stubblefield was an adaptable musician; he was stationed with the World Saxophone Quartet , Reggie Workman , McCoy Tyner , Freddie Hubbard , and George Russell .-As leader:* Prelude with Onaje Allan Gumbs, Cecil McBee, Joe...
- Confessin'Confessin' (album)Confessin' is an album by the American jazz saxophonist John Stubblefield recorded in 1984 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:...
(Soul Note, 1984)
With The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra
- Suite for PopsSuite for PopsSuite for Pops is a 1972 big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the A&M Horizon label.-Track listing:# "Meetin' Place"# "The Summary"# "The Farewell"# "Toledo By Candlelight"# "The Great One"...
(A&M/Horizon, 1972) - Live in Tokyo (Denon Jazz, 1974)
- Potpourri (Philadelphia International, 1974)
- Thad Jones / Mel Lewis and Manuel De SicaThad Jones / Mel Lewis and Manuel De SicaThad Jones / Mel Lewis and Manuel De Sica and the Jazz Orchestra is a big band jazz recording by the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra recorded in Europe in 1973 and 1974.-Track listing:# "First Jazz Suite" ## "Brasserie" – 3:19...
(Pausa, 1974) - New Life (A&M/Horizon, 1976)
- Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra With Rhoda ScottThad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra With Rhoda ScottThad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra With Rhoda Scott is a 1976 big band jazz album recorded by jazz organist Rhoda Scott with the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the Barclay record label.-Track listing:# "Mach 2" – 4:30# "Tanikka" – 4:29# "Rhoda Map" – 5:00# "R...
(Barclay, 1976)
With McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
- Song of the New WorldSong of the New WorldSong of the New World is a 1973 album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, his fourth to be released on the Milestone label. It was recorded in April 1973 and features performances by Tyner with a big band including Sonny Fortune, Hubert Laws, Alphonse Mouzon and Virgil Jones and a string section on two...
(Milestone, 1973) - Inner VoicesInner VoicesInner Voices is a 1977 album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, his twelfth to be released on the Milestone label. It was recorded in September 1977 and features performances by Tyner with rhythm section horn section and vocalists...
(Milestone, 1977)