The Jazz Music Awards announces hosts Delroy Lindo and Dee Dee Bridgewater with a star-studded lineup of jazz legends, icons and more!

ABOUT HOSTS

Dee Dee Bridgewater is a veteran actor, singer and host. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Flint, Michigan, she was inspired by listening to Ella Fitzgerald to pursue a career in music. She launched a successful jazz vocal career in New York, singing with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, then with a string of notable jazz bands before landing a recording contract. She migrated to musical theatre, winning a Tony Award in 1975 for her portrayal of Glinda the Good Witch in the Broadway musical. The Wiz. The show’s cast album also earned Bridgewater its first Grammy Award. She performed as part of the international touring company of sophisticated ladies and received accolades for her performance in the Off-Broadway production of lady’s daythe story of Billie Holiday at the Little Shubert Theater in New York, as well as performances by Lady Day in Paris and London. She also played a lead role in Cabaret. She recorded a series of tribute albums in the 1990s, winning another Grammy Award for Dear Ella in 1997 and his third Grammy Award in 2010 for Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love by Dee Dee Bridgewater. Among her many accolades are a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, induction into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, and Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Maria Fisher Founder’s Award. In 2017, Bridgewater was named the 2017 NEA Jazz Master.

Delroy Lindo is a critically acclaimed stage and film actor. Born in London to Jamaican parents, he has also lived in Toronto, Ontario, and San Francisco, California. He made his big screen debut in the 1976 comedy find the lady. He recently appeared as Bass Reeves in the 2021 Western The more they fall. Lindo starred in Spike Lee Da 5 Bloods, which earned him Best Actor awards from the Hollywood Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, and National Society of Film Critics. He also appeared in a trio of Lee’s other highest-grossing films: Clocker, Crooklyn, and Malcolm X. He had memorable movie roles in congo, Cider House Rules, Get Shorty, and Flight, among others. He’ll star in Marvel Studios’ upcoming reboot of Blade with Mahershala Ali. On the television side, Lindo appeared in four seasons of CBS’s “The Good Fight” as Adrian Boseman; as well as “Believe”, “The Chicago Code”, “Kidnapped” and in films for television, such as The soul of the game(playing baseball legend Satchel Paige); strange righteousness (winning a Peabody Award); and Glory & Honor (playing arctic explorer Matthew Henson). He won an NAACP Award for an appearance in “Law & Order: SVU.” He will also star in Neil Gaiman’s upcoming limited series. Anansi Boys for Amazon Studios. Lindo made her Broadway debut in Athol Fugard’s play Master Harold and the boys with James Earl Jones. He received a Tony Award nomination playing Herald Loomis in August Wilson’s Come and Gone by Joe Turner. He directed the plays blue door and Come and Gone by Joe Turner critically acclaimed at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Lindo holds an Honorary Doctorate of Arts and Humanities from Virginia Union University; a BFA (cum laude) degree from San Francisco State University; and an MFA from the Gallatin School of New York University.

For updates and information on the awards ceremony, please visit jazzmusicawards.com.