Dee Dee Bridgewater & Memphis Soulphony at Miner Auditorium, September 9, 2017

SFJAZZ presents CD Release Shows: Memories of Memphis featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater & Memphis Soulphony
Robert M. Miner Auditorium
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
Late Show, 9:30 PM, Saturday, September 9, 2017

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[9:33 PM Band out, Greetings from Dell Smith]

1. [9:34 PM] Burnt Biscuits
   [9:34 PM add Dee Dee]
2. [9:37 PM] Going Down Slow
   [9:34 PM add backup singers]
3. [9:46 PM] Giving Up »
4. [9:52 PM] I Can't Get Next to You »
5. [9:59 PM] Yes, I'm Ready
6. [10:07 PM] It's My Party (tease, aborted)
   [10:07 PM Dee Dee preaches awhile about civil rights]
7. [10:07 PM] Why? (Am I Treated So Bad)
8. [10:16 PM] B-A-B-Y
   [drop backup singers, CP]
9. [10:22 PM] Don't Be Cruel (CP back for the finale)
10. [10:28 PM] I Can't Stand the Rain »
11. [10:33 PM] The Thrill Is Gone
    [drop BL, CP; backup singers return; each takes a brief star turn on lead]
12. [10:45 PM] Stormy Monday (Shontelle) »
13. [10:4x PM] Rock Me Baby (Sharisse) »
14. [10:4x PM] Hound Dog
    [horns back]
15. [10:53 PM] Try a Little Tenderness
    [set ends 11:02 PM]
    
    Encore
16. [11:03 PM] Purple Rain
    [show ends 11:11 PM; thanks and then all off after a minute or two]

• Dee Dee Bridgewater: vox;
• Barry Campbell: bass, harmony vox;
• Charlton Johnson: guitar;
• Bryant Lockhart: tenor saxophone;
• Sharisse Norman: lead and harmony vox;
• Shontelle Norman: lead and harmony vox;
• Curtis Pulliam: trumpet, harmony vox;
• Carlos Sargent: drums;
• Farindell 'Dell' Smith: music director, piano, organ, keyboards, harmony vox.

Having heard good things about Dee Dee's latest record, I was really looking forward to tonight's show, and despite being dead tired from the rest of the day's adventure at Sound Summit, I was keen to hear her her and the band lay down some of that slinky Memphis soul.

Shortly after the appointed show time, the house lights dimmed and the core band took the stage, sans singers, opening with a Booker T number, Burnt Biscuits, a nice uptempo burner to get the crowd simmering. Dee Dee entered immediately afterwards, and the band launched into the slow grind blues of Bobby 'Blue' Bland's Going Down Slow.

Dee Dee then paused and took a few minutes to talk to us about the conceit of her latest release – to pay tribute to the hometown classics that fired her imagination as a child growing up in Memphis. Joined by harmony singers Sharisse and Shontelle Norman, the show then continued with a long medley that ran from Gladys Knight and the Pips' Giving Up on into Al Green's I Can't Get Next to You and then to the sticky-syrupy-sweet-teenage-love of Barbara Mason's Yes, I'm Ready. The band continued into It's My Party, but Dee Dee signaled them to stop, and she paused the show for a bit of preaching about the civil rights struggles that she witnessed as a child. Naturally, this led to another cover, this time, the Staple Singer's Why? (Am I Treated So Bad).

Carla Thomas' B-A-B-Y was up next, and somehow that led to an Elvis cover, Don't Be Cruel. Which was kinda fun, especially when Dee Dee tried a bit of that hiccup and hip-swagger at the end. Next up was Ann Peebles' I Can't Stand the Rain, which saw the band inserting multiple teases of Cissy Strut here and there … a bit of musical silliness that continued on into the following tune, The Thrill Is Gone, which prompted Dee Dee to make a few comments about the Meters and the music of New Orleans.

Dee Dee allowed Sharisse and Shontelle each a brief star turn, singing a minute or two before passing the lead onward for a different song from a different singer while the band seamlessly segued behind them. Dee Dee made sure to introduce Hound Dog as a Big Mama Thornton tune, just in case anyone needed to be reminded that it didn't come from Elvis. (That it was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller apparently wasn't worth a mention!)

The horns returned for a fabulous rendition of Try a Little Tenderness, closing following Otis Redding's take rather than the now quite dated 1932 big-band original. (And what of der Bingle's treacly-version? We shall now pretend that the alternative wasn't even mentioned). Herewith the show wound down, and after quick bows, the performers left the stage while the audience hooted and hollered for more. Of course they came back, and then Dee Dee surprised me by leading the house into a sing-along, sway-along, wave-your-hands-in-the-air version of Purple Rain. Incongruent with the theme of the evening, yeah, but you gotta let the diva do what she wanna, right?

Andrew Gilbert posted a review of the night’s early show at SFCV.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!