Memphis... yes I'm ready (2017)

"Bridgewater was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and she still feels a spiritual connection with the city and its music. On this album, she puts her love of vintage soul and blues front and center. The songs were recorded 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 these sessions. 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." (Mark Deming, Allmusic; 4 uit 5 sterren)