Legendary three-time Grammy Award vocalist and Tony Award winning actress Dee Dee Bridgewater will visit the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 to speak in a Department of Black Studies class on the History of Jazz taught by Professor Jeffrey Stewart.

The event is scheduled for 12:30 to 1:45 pm in the Multicultural Center Theater and is also open to the public. Ms. Bridgewater will speak about her career as a jazz singer, the jazz audience in Paris, France, where she maintains a residence, and the struggle and rewards of crafting an individual voice as an artist. Ms. Bridgewater is in town in connection with her performance later that evening as part of the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour 55th Anniversary Celebration at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara at 8:00 pm. At the Lobero Theatre, she will be headlining an all-star band that includes bassist and musical director Christian McBride, pianist Benny Green, drummer Lewis Nash, saxophonist Chris Potter, and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. http://www.lobero.com/events/monterey-jazz-festival-tour-55th-anniversary-celebration/

Professor Stewart writes,
“Dee Dee Bridgewater’s visit to UCSB is an incredible opportunity for students to see, hear, and learn from one of the best jazz vocalists America has produced! An innovative, versatile, and dramatic vocalist, Ms. Bridgewater has collaborated with such giants as Horace Silver, Dexter Gordon, and Dizzy Gillespie, starred in several award-winning musicals, hosts the National Public Radio syndicated radio show JazzSet, and serves as a United Nations Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization. She epitomizes the values of aesthetic and humanitarian excellence we value so highly in Black Studies.”