Memphis... Yes, I'm Ready

Returning to her birthtown, Memphis, Tennessee (her family moved to Flint, MI, when she was three years old), Dee Dee Bridgewater embraces the music she grew up with, R&B and soul. Her father was also "a young on-air DJ with the moniker ‘Matt the Platter Cat.’"[10] For the project she teamed up with Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell, owner of the Royal Studios in Memphis, where Mitchell's grandfather Willie already produced the music of Al Green, Ann Peebles, Quiet Elegance and others for his label Hi Records. The musicians were locals as well, such as saxophonist Kirk Whalum, guitarist Garry Goin, and Charles Hodges from The Hodges Brothers, the usual rhythm section of the Hi recordings. Featured as vocal backup were the Stax Music Academy. The repertoire was meant to be as southern as the interpretation, it reached from "The Thrill Is Gone" (B.B. King), "Hound Dog" (Big Mama Thornton), and the gospel song "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" (Mahalia Jackson) to "Why Am I Treated So Bad!" (The Staple Singers), "Try a Little Tenderness" (Otis Redding), and two songs by Isaac Hayes and David Porter.

In her interview for The New York Times, when asked about her motivation to record the album, Bridgewater said "At this point I just want to give exposure to the things that I believe in. In that sense, I did this album for me."[11] In her interview for Chicago Tribune Bridgewater also stated "I was looking for something to do that would be fun, that would be simple, that could make me dance, because I was getting toward the end of my mother’s transition and feeling a bit depressed."[12]

Mark Deming of Allmusic noted that "with a top-shelf soul band cooking behind her, Dee Dee Bridgewater steps up as a top-shelf soul singer, smooth when she should be, good and gritty when she wants to be, and sounding tough, passionate, and firmly in command at all times... Dee Dee Bridgewater strips off some of the polish from her style on Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready without betraying her talent or best musical instincts, and this detour into Soul City is a treat that should please her fans, as well as anyone who digs Southern soul."[1]

Mark McKergow of London Jazz News wrote: "Much of the repertoire is instantly recognisable [...] being given the Dee Dee treatment. The band assembled for the sessions offers fine support, [...] the predominant sound is low-down, bassy and utterly solid."[13]

Band

• Dee Dee Bridgewater – vocals
• Kirk Whalum – tenor and baritone saxophone
• Lannie McMillan, Kirk Smothers – tenor saxophone
• Marc Franklin – trumpet
• Kameron Whalum – trombone
• John Stoddart – keyboards, vocal arrangements
• Charles Hodges – Hammond organ
• Garry Goin – guitar
• Jackie Clark – bass
• James Sexton – drums
• Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell – cymbals, electric bongos, tambourine
• Sharisse Norman, Candise Rayborn-Marshall, Kevin Whalum – background vocals
• Stax Music Academy – vocals (background)

Production

• Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kirk Whalum, Tulani Bridgewater Kowalski, Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell - producers
• John Stoddart – associate producer
• Ted Jensen – engineer
• Tulani Bridgewater Kowalski – art direction, cover art, photography
• Thomas Brodin – design
• Rachel Ashley – photography
• Dee Dee Bridgewater – liner notes

• Official website