Dee Dee Bridgewater to Perform at Symphony Center’s Lincoln Anniversary Celebration

Tony Award winner Dee Dee Bridgewater will sing the rarely performed civil rights work, “We Insist! Freedom Now Suite” at Symphony Center on February 13, as part of the organization’s celebration of the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

Written in 1960 by Max Roach and singer-songwriter Oscar Brown Jr., the suite captures the emotion and complexity of the struggle for civil rights, in both the United States and Africa. The concert will also feature musical director/drummer Lewis Nash, trombonist Julian Priester, percussionist Ray Mantilla, trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, and special guest vocalist Maggie Brown, daughter of Oscar Brown Jr., who will present a tribute to her late father, performing some of his most celebrated songs.

There will also be a special pre-concert Jazz Connection discussion in Symphony Center’s Grainger Ballroom at 6:45 p.m, featuring Nash, Maxine Roach (daughter of Max Roach) and former Village Voice jazz critic Nat Hentoff. The event is free to all concert ticket holders, but tickets must be reserved by calling 312-294-3000.

Symphony Center’s celebration will also include the previously announced Chicago Symphony Orchestra Lincoln bicentennial tribute with James Earl Jones, set for February 21.

For more information, visit www.cso.org.