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Cecil Bridgewater is a seasoned trumpeter, composer, arranger, record producer, and educator. His impressive career has included performances with jazz legends such as Max Roach, Horace Silver, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. He has also shared the stage or studio with the Count Basie Orchestra, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Heath, Sir Roland Hanna, Wynton Marsalis, and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, among many others.
His musical journey began in Illinois, where he was trained by his parents. His father, a trumpet player, inspired him to pursue the instrument, and Cecil honed his skills by performing with his high school dance band and playing weekend gigs with his bandleader uncle, Pete Bridgewater.
Cecil’s formal education in music started at the University of Illinois, followed by further studies and professional performances in Chicago. After a two-year stint in the Army, he toured Eastern Europe and Russia with the University of Illinois Jazz Band. The band performed at renowned festivals like the Newport Jazz Festival and the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival, where Cecil received several awards, including Best Trumpet, Best Overall Musician, Best Small Group, and Best Big Band.
In 1970, Cecil moved to New York, where he quickly established himself as an international artist. His recognition grew significantly after joining the Horace Silver Quintet and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. As a soloist, writer, arranger, and musical consultant, he collaborated with artists such as Max Roach and has had his compositions and arrangements recorded by Lena Horne, Vanessa Rubin, the Uptown String Quartet, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Notably, Cecil contributed nine arrangements to Bridgewater’s This Is New (featuring the music of Kurt Weill) and three arrangements to her Grammy Award-winning album Dear Ella.
Cecil’s compositions have been commissioned by organizations like the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, which premiered New Dawn, the Atlanta Arts Festival, the University of Illinois, Jazzmobile, and Meet the Composers. One of his notable works is the “Cannonball” Adderley Suite, which had its premiere in Los Angeles in February 1994 and was performed again in Washington, D.C., in March 1996.
Throughout his career, Cecil Bridgewater has not only shaped the jazz world through performance but has also made a significant mark as a composer and educator, contributing deeply to the evolution of jazz music.
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