Born Denise Eileen Garrett in Memphis, Tennessee, she grew up in Flint, Michigan. Her father, Matthew Garrett, was a jazz trumpeter and teacher at Manassas High School, and through his playing, Denise was exposed to jazz early on. At the age of sixteen, she was a member of a rock and rhythm'n'blues trio, singing in clubs in Michigan. At 18, she studied at Michigan State University before she went to the University of Illinois. With their jazz band, she toured the Soviet Union in 1969. The next year, she met trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, and after their marriage, they moved to New York City, where Cecil played in Horace Silver's band.
In 1971, Dee Dee Bridgewater joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra as the lead vocalist. The next years marked the beginning of her jazz career, and she performed with many of the great jazz musicians of the time, such as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach, and others. In 1974, her first own album, entitled Afro Blue, appeared, and she also performed on Broadway in the musical The Wiz. For her role as Glinda the Good Witch she won a Tony Award in 1975 as "best-featured actress", and the musical also won the 1976 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
She subsequently appeared in several other stage productions. After touring France in 1984 with the musical Sophisticated Ladies, she moved to Paris in 1986. The same year saw her in Lady Day as Billie Holliday, for which role she was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she returned from the world of musical to jazz. She performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1990, and four years later, she finally collaborated with Horace Silver, whom she had admired for a long time, and released the album Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver. Her 1997 tribute album Dear Ella won her the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album, and the 1998 album Live at Yoshi's was also worth a Grammy nomination. She has also explored on This is New the songs of Kurt Weill, and, on her latest album J'ai Deux Amours, the French Classics.
Dee Dee Bridgewater is the first American to be inducted to the Haut Conseil de la Francophonie. She has received the Award of Arts and Letters in France.
Dee Dee Bridgewater is mother to three children, Tulani Bridgewater (from her marriage to Cecil Bridgewater), China Moses (from her marriage to theater, film and television director Gilbert Moses) and Gabriel Durand (from her current marriage to French concert promoter Jean-Marie Durand).
Here's That Rainy
Dee Dee Bridgewater Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Funny, but here's that rainy day
Here's that rainy day they told me about
And I laughed at the thought that it might turn out this way
Where is that worn out wish that I threw aside
After it brought my lover near
It's funny how love becomes a cold rainy day
Funny how love becomes a cold rainy day
Funny, that rainy day is here
In Dee Dee Bridgewater's song, "Here's That Rainy Day," the singer reflects upon a lover who was once close but now is gone, leaving only the dreary weather outside their window. The opening lines suggest that the singer had aspirations and hopes, but perhaps she didn't put in the effort to make them come to fruition. Now, she seems to regret not having followed through with those dreams, feeling that they may have protected her from the current coldness of her romantic situation. The reference to a "rainy day" as a metaphor for this heartbreak is familiar; Bridgewater's take on it is melancholic, however, highlighting that a love that has gone sour can be just as bleak and debilitating.
The last lines of each verse repeat a key idea: that love can turn one's world upside down. The second verse recalls a lost love and an abandoned wish—the latter of which seems to have brought the former into her life, and now it has disappeared again. By juxtaposing this memory with the current rainy day, Bridgewater suggests that what once seemed promising and sunny can quickly become something very different. In the end, the "funny" thing is the unpredictability of relationships, which can bring warmth or coldness--or, as the song puts it, sunshine or rain.
Line by Line Meaning
Maybe I should have saved those left over dreams
Perhaps it would have been better to hold onto the dreams I didn't fulfill in the past.
Funny, but here's that rainy day
It's ironic that the unpleasant situation I was warned about is happening now.
Here's that rainy day they told me about
The dreary day that I was cautioned about is now unfolding before me.
And I laughed at the thought that it might turn out this way
I once found the idea of this coming to fruition amusing, but now that it's happening, it's no longer funny.
Where is that worn out wish that I threw aside
I wonder what became of the hope I abandoned after it led me to my beloved.
After it brought my lover near
I disregarded the wish that brought me the person I care for.
It's funny how love becomes a cold rainy day
It's curious that the emotion of love can transform into a bleak and chilly experience.
Funny, that rainy day is here
It's ironic that the day I was previously warned about has arrived, and it's not pleasant.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JIMMY VAN HEUSEN, JOHNNY BURKE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
David Geyer Rhoades
For me this is the best version of Rainy Day ever. I played this for a friend a few years ago and somewhere in the first eight bars she said “this is music for adults”. I’ve been quoting her ever since.
Harriet Johnson
I’ve lived this. I feel this song. Dee Dee is outstanding here. 👌🏾
Harriet Johnson
AND the musicians are superb! The pianist—WOW—beautiful sparkling notes!!!
Sergio Orlandi
Meravigliosa........!
Vic Glazer
To my knowledge, only jazz singers like to, or perhaps have to kick off the tempo for the band behind them. Not because the singer doesn't trust the conductor, pianist, or whatever. It's because only the vocalist knows EXACTLY what she/he wants. Conditions sometimes change from day to day....even set to set.
It also takes the onus off of the band and puts it squarely on the singer. After all, they didn't kick off the wrong tempo. LOL
Harriet Johnson
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰