Bridgewater

The lights of Manhattan glittered in the background, as jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater set her sights on bass player Christian McBride. Cooing, crooning and creeping toward him on the stage, she sang an up-tempo, sexually suggestive blues, moaning "Oooh" and "Aaah" as an erotic tension built, stopping just short of physical contact. It was a trademark moment for one of the jazz world's most celebrated divas, but it was also incongruous: Bridgewater had just sung "Mother's Son in Law," a tune made famous by Billie Holiday, and the rest of her songs -- including "Good Morning Heartache," "All of Me" and "God Bless the Child" -- were also immortalized by the iconic singer.

Dee Dee Bridgewater and Al Jarreau Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall When: Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Price: $45-$89.50 Contact: (323) 850-2000

Brit­ish roots mu­sic band Mum­ford & Sons took the top hon­or for its album "Ba­bel" at the 55th Grammy Awards ce­re­mony Sunday. The night mostly dis­trib­uted hon­ors broadly to an ar­ray of young­er gen­er­a­tion acts in­clud­ing New York in­die trio Fun., Aus­trali­an elec­tron­ic pop artist Gotye, rap­per-R&B sing­er Frank Ocean and Ak­ron, Ohio, rock group the Black Keys. See the complete list of 2013 Grammy winners and nominees below. #story-body-text h2 { font-weight: bold !

The lights of Manhattan glittered in the background, as jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater set her sights on bass player Christian McBride. Cooing, crooning and creeping toward him on the stage, she sang an up-tempo, sexually suggestive blues, moaning "Oooh" and "Aaah" as an erotic tension built, stopping just short of physical contact. It was a trademark moment for one of the jazz world's most celebrated divas, but it was also incongruous: Bridgewater had just sung "Mother's Son in Law," a tune made famous by Billie Holiday, and the rest of her songs -- including "Good Morning Heartache," "All of Me" and "God Bless the Child" -- were also immortalized by the iconic singer.

The daily practice battles between USC teammates Brad Bridgewater and Lenny Krazelburg have managed to push both swimmers to faster times almost every time they show up at a meet. It was never more evident than Sunday when Bridgewater recorded the sixth-fastest time in the world this year, winning the 200-meter backstroke in 1 minute 59.69 seconds at the Santa Clara International Invitational. Krazelburg was second in 2:00.

Dee Dee Bridgewater and Al Jarreau Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall When: Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Price: $45-$89.50 Contact: (323) 850-2000

The old saw "You don't know what you've got till it's gone" certainly applies in the case of expatriate vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater. Bridgewater's opening set Tuesday at Catalina Bar & Grill, her first Los Angeles club date since she relocated to Paris about 10 years ago, was an impressive homecoming that displayed just what's been missed in her absence.

Bonnie Addario didn't even know there was a word for what was happening to her. As if lung cancer weren't bad enough, the 54-year-old had lost 30 pounds off her normally 130-pound frame. Her life was limited to her husband's Barcalounger, where she had to recline because she lacked the strength to sit up straight. "It affected everything I did," says Addario, who is alive and well nine years later in San Carlos, Calif. "I literally could not get up and down the stairs. " There is a name for what Addario experienced: cachexia.

Bryan Bridgewater of the Win America Track and Athletics Club won the 200-meter dash in the young men's division (for athletes born in 1970 and '71) at the U. S. Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in Gainesville, Fla., on Friday. Bridgewater, the California high school and City Section champion in the 200 as a senior at Washington High, had struggled since defeating Quincy Watts of Taft for the state title at Cerritos College in June. But he won easily Friday, running 20.

More than 1,500 athletes from 25 states are expected to compete in The Athletics Congress National Youth track and field championships at Mt. San Antonio College this week, but Quincy Watts and Bryan Bridgewater will not be among them because their entry forms were not received on time.

Energy, excitement and exhilaration are common characteristics of a Dee Dee Bridgewater performance. And her opening night Wednesday at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood added another: entertainment. The drive to engage an audience, to keep the pace quickening, to perform at the highest level of intensity seem to be the most essential aspects of her musical goals at this point in her career.

**** DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER "This Is New" Verve A musical free spirit if ever there was one, Bridgewater always has defied categorization, and her anything-goes brand of vocalizing reinvigorates the music of Kurt Weill. One would be hard-pressed to name another female singer working today who can finesse the theatrical elements of Weill's songs while also infusing them with comparably brilliant scat singing, propulsive swing rhythm and gorgeously lush tone colors.

Jazz singing is a complicated mixture of elements--among them, the capacity to generate rhythmic swing, an understanding of improvisation, respect for a song's story, a good ear and a little attitude thrown in for good measure. The variations between these elements--more of one, less of another--is what makes for the differences between singers. And listeners will tend to favor those singers who most thoroughly reflect their own preferences.

It appears Brad Bridgewater doesn't quite have a watertight hold on a U.S. Olympic team spot. Bridgewater, a 1996 Olympic gold-medal winner, was pushed to the limit Friday by Newport Harbor High sophomore Aaron Peirsol in the 200-meter backstroke at the Swim Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo. Bridgewater, 26, ranked second in the world, clocked the fastest preliminary time Friday morning with a 2 minute 04.80 second swim at the Marguerite Swim Complex.

Dee Dee Bridgewater's latest album, "Dear Ella," is a salute to legendary jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald. In her opening night set at Catalina Bar & Grill on Tuesday night, Bridgewater made it clear that she intends to remain closely connected to the music and the style of performance symbolized by the first lady of song. When someone in the jampacked, strongly reactive audience asked for one of Bridgewater's tunes from her brief flirtation with fusion jazz, she smiled but declined.

Putting the strong musical personalities of vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and pianist Jacky Terrasson together on the same bandstand seemed risking a clash. Both are distinctive stylists accustomed to the spotlight, musicians who develop a palpable sense of drama when they perform. Could two such assertive performers coexist without getting in each other's way? Not a problem.

Putting the strong musical personalities of vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and pianist Jacky Terrasson together on the same bandstand seemed risking a clash. Both are distinctive stylists accustomed to the spotlight, musicians who develop a palpable sense of drama when they perform. Could two such assertive performers coexist without getting in each other's way? Not a problem.

**** DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER "This Is New" Verve A musical free spirit if ever there was one, Bridgewater always has defied categorization, and her anything-goes brand of vocalizing reinvigorates the music of Kurt Weill. One would be hard-pressed to name another female singer working today who can finesse the theatrical elements of Weill's songs while also infusing them with comparably brilliant scat singing, propulsive swing rhythm and gorgeously lush tone colors.

Payback is good, but payback at the Olympic Games can be golden. The swimming competition ended Friday with a crescendo for the once-lightly regarded U.S. men. The 400-meter medley relay team set a world record, and Brad Bridgewater made up for a childhood of lost races to current U.S. teammate Tripp Schwenk and won the gold medal in the 200 backstroke. Schwenk won the silver. It was another flag-waving night for the Americans at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.

The daily practice battles between USC teammates Brad Bridgewater and Lenny Krazelburg have managed to push both swimmers to faster times almost every time they show up at a meet. It was never more evident than Sunday when Bridgewater recorded the sixth-fastest time in the world this year, winning the 200-meter backstroke in 1 minute 59.69 seconds at the Santa Clara International Invitational. Krazelburg was second in 2:00.