Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap, Elemental Review

by Constance Tucker

In jazz vocal performance, the standards never change, but the singer’s interpretation must. The longevity of the standard’s history creates reinvention. In Elemental, Dee Dee Bridgewater pairs with the always elegant Bill Charlap to offer her interpretation of some songs from the Great American Songbook. Bridgewater is consistent in vocal technique, storytelling, and interpretive creativity.

Bridgewater’s control over timbre combines the blues and gospel with classic jazz. On “Beginning to See the Light,” she displays a wide range of techniques, from playful vocal percussion to bright jazz lines atop Charlap’s piano with confidence. With “Mood Indigo,” Bridgewater’s shows a tone that is comfortable, going from husky to shadowed falsetto. She never oversells the melody; instead, she lets it provide a framework for her ideas.

Bridgewater’s improvisational language is one of jazz musical fluency. “Honeysuckle Rose” has Bridgewater scatting and trading phrases with Charlap in a dynamic display of jazz riffs, angular bebop figures, and even a few bars of whistling. Her rhythm is executed with precise articulation and accent play. The duet is deeply embedded in the groove, responsive, and rooted in swing tradition. Her syllabic choices show taste and agility, and her rhythmic phrasing is so attuned to Charlap’s comping that it feels less like soloing and more like code-switching in an ongoing conversation.

In jazz, how you phrase, is who you are. Bridgewater demonstrates exquisite flexibility on “’S Wonderful” and “Love for Sale.” In both, she drapes vocal lines across the bar line, reshaping melody into personal inflection and adding her character to the embellishments. On “’S Wonderful,” she leans into the syncopation already built into the tune. In “Love for Sale,” her phrasing matches Charlap’s pianistic colors. She stretches certain phrases to the point of tension, then resolves them with confidence.

Bridgewater’s storytelling instincts bring new avenues of exploration in “Here’s That Rainy Day.” The vocal and piano deliver a commitment to lyrical truth. The art of balladry is shown in “In the Still of the Night.” This nearly nine-minute ballad is built with the duet’s storytelling shading.  Bridgewater’s style in “Caravan” dips into various style inflections, and her phrasing is serpentine. There’s blues in everything she does.

Elemental is a fun jazz duet with Dee Dee Bridgewater’s performance being technically dazzling and emotionally fetching. She understands phrasing, form, and tone as every vocal choice deepens the story of the standards. Bill Charlap is a very lyrical pianist, and he responds with sensitive comping, elegant counterpoint, and moving solos. This is an album of standards that brings yet another avenue through these brilliant landscapes for musical expression.