DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER - Memphis ... Yes, I'm Ready (2017) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

There's no question that Dee Dee Bridgewater is one of America's great jazz vocalists, but that's hardly the only thing she can do. Bridgewater was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and while her family pulled up stakes for Flint, Michigan when she was only three, she still feels a spiritual connection with the city and its music, and on 2017's Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready, she puts her love of vintage soul and blues front and center. Bridgewater recorded Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready at Royal Recorders, the Bluff City studio where producer Willie Mitchell cut a string of hits with Al Green in the '70s, and Willie's son Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell co-produced the sessions along with Dee Dee and her daughter Tulani Bridgewater. Mitchell pulled together a splendid studio band for this album, including a few members of the old Hi Rhythm Section, and they deliver a superb set of soulful grooves, at once swampy and emphatic, with John Stoddart's electric piano, Jackie Clark's bass, and James "Bishop" Sexton's drums generating just the right amount of funk. With a top-shelf soul band cooking behind her, Dee Dee Bridgewater steps up as a top-shelf soul singer, smooth when she should be, good and gritty when she wants to be, and sounding tough, passionate, and firmly in command at all times. That Bridgewater delivers on soul classics such as "Yes, I'm Ready," "Try a Little Tenderness," and "B.A.B.Y." is not a great surprise, but her transformation of B.B. King's blues perennial "The Thrill Is Gone" into a smoky late-night groove is both unexpected and welcome, and she works an impressive transformation on two numbers associated with Elvis Presley, "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog," finding a tough R&B center inside them. "The Sweeter He Is" gives Dee Dee a chance to open up her soul and tell us some home truths about cheating men, and the closing performance of the gospel standard "(Take My Hand) Precious Lord" is glorious. Dee Dee Bridgewater strips off some of the polish from her style on Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready without betraying her talent or best musical instincts, and this detour into Soul City is a treat that should please her fans, as well as anyone who digs Southern soul. by Mark Deming
Tracklist :
1     Yes, I'm Ready 4:57
Barbara Mason
2     Giving Up 4:55
Van McCoy
3     I Can't Get Next to You 5:16
Barrett Strong / Norman Whitfield
4     Going Down Slow 4:45
St. Louis Jimmy Oden
5     Why (Am I Treated So Bad) 4:36
Roebuck "Pops" Staples
6     B.A.B.Y. 4:04
Isaac Hayes / David Porter
7     The Thrill Is Gone 5:38
Rick Ravon Darnell / Roy Hawkins
8     The Sweeter He Is 6:45
Isaac Hayes / David Porter
9     I Can't Stand the Rain 3:06
Donald Maurice Bryant / Bernard Miller / Ann Peebles
10     Don't Be Cruel 4:40
Otis Blackwell / Elvis Presley
11     Hound Dog 3:38
Jerry Leiber / Mike Stoller
12     Try a Little Tenderness 5:25
James Campbell / Reginald Connelly / Harry Woods
13     (Take My Hand) Precious Lord 4:18
Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey / Sobie Frank Frazier / Jeff Majors
Credits :
Backing Vocals [Backup Vocals] – Candise Rayborn-Marshall, Stax Music Academy
Bass – Jackie Clark
Co-producer, Arranged By [Horns], Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Kirk Whalum
Drums – James 'Bishop' Sexton
Electric Organ [Hammond Organ] – Charles Hodges
Guitar – Garry Goin
Producer [Associate], Arranged By [Vocals], Keyboards – John Stoddart
Producer, Engineer, Electronic Drums [Electric Bongo], Cymbal [Sizzle Cymbal], Tambourine – Lawrence 'Boo' Mitchell
Producer, Vocals – Dee Dee Bridgewater
Tenor Saxophone – Kirk Smothers
Trombone – Kameron Whalum