2026 Women's Jazz Fest: Dee Dee Bridgewater

IN PERSON

The Schomburg Center’s centennial celebration continues with its annual Women's Jazz Festival (WJF). The festival was founded in 1992 by then Harlem resident and jazz vocalist, Melba Joyce. For over 30 years, the festival and its curators have brought together vocalists, musicians, dancers, and a melding of musical genres, to deliver an exciting series of concerts honoring the contributions of Black women in jazz. The 2026 festival will be held in person on Mondays, March 16, 23, and 30.

Join us for the closing night of the Women's Jazz Festival with Dee Dee Bridgewater!

DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER

Over the course of a multifaceted career spanning four decades, Grammy and Tony Award-winning Jazz giant Dee Dee Bridgewater has ascended to the upper echelon of vocalists, putting her unique spin on standards, as well as taking intrepid leaps of faith in re-envisioning jazz classics.

A multi-hyphenate polymath and fearless voyager, explorer, pioneer and keeper of tradition, the three-time Grammy-winner most recently won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee. Bridgewater’s career has always bridged musical genres. She earned her first professional experience as a member of the legendary Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band, and throughout the 70’s she performed with such jazz notables as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie. After a foray into the pop world during the 1980s, she relocated to Paris and began to turn her attention back to Jazz.

Bridgewater began self-producing with her 1993 album Keeping Tradition (Polydor/Verve) and created DDB Records in 2006 when she signed with the Universal Music Group as a producer (Bridgewater produces all of her own CDs). Releasing a series of critically-acclaimed CD's, all but one, including her wildly successful double Grammy Award-winning tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Dear Ella - have received Grammy nominations. Bridgewater also pursued a parallel career in musical theater, winning a Tony Award for her role as “Glinda” in The Wiz in 1975. Having recently completed a run as the lead role of Billie Holiday in the off-Broadway production of Lady Day, her other theatrical credits include Sophisticated Ladies, Black Ballad, Carmen, Cabaret and the Off-Broadway and West End Productions of Lady Day, for which Bridgewater received the British Laurence Olivier Nominationfor Best Actress in a Musical. She also served as the namesake host of the long-running syndicated NPR radio program JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater, produced by Becca Puliiam for WBGO.

Read more of Spring's bio at deedeebridgewater.com.

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TICKETS

General Admission $35 // Schomburg Society Member* $25 (Plus Eventbrite fees)

*Enter promotional code to reveal membership ticket . For more information, contact the Schomburg Society Office at schomburgsociety@nypl.org or 212.491.2252

2026 Women's Jazz Festival Schedule

March 16: Ms. Lisa Fischer

March 23: Kandace Springs

March 30: Dee Dee Bridgewater

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LEARN MORE

This year, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture continues celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding! Join us all year long for a wide array of special events, exhibitions, and more as we celebrate this milestone and continue the legacy of Arturo Schomburg.

Schomburg100 | Exhibition | Special-Edition Library Card | Become a Member

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OPEN SEATING Ticketed guests will begin seating 30 minutes before start time.

ACCESSIBLILITY Accessibility requests can be made by e-mail accessibility@nypl.org.

E-TRANSPORTATION NYPL policy prohibits electric transportation devices (e.g., motorbikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards) from being brought into or stored at library sites for any length of time, as this is the best way to keep our spaces & people safe.

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING Programs are photographed and recorded by the Schomburg Center. Attending this event indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any all purposes of the New York Public Library.

PRESS Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at leahdrayton@nypl.org.

Please note that personal and professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.