And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Please welcome dee dee bridgewater back to our program. Shes been at the forefront of music for decades now and won awards and grammy awards. This album is called memphis, yes, i am ready. How could you not love that album cover . [ laughter ] i am assuming thats you a few years ago snooc. Just a few. Memphis, yes, i am ready. My first thought was it took you all this time to get ready in. It did. And why . To get ready to go back home. Because i have been on a life journey and i found that time where i can go back and investigate my beginnings which is a wonderful thing. What makes this time the right time to do it. It was about my my mother is beginning my transition. I have been her care giver for ten years. As she began to transition, i began to think that maybe i need to tastart seeing what about wh he wants to do. This is something that i have been wanting to do, go back memphis understanding why i am the way that i am and why i have this love of soul music and blue music. Thats what it was. Your fans know that you have done it all and you can do it all. For a child to be listening to this stuff on the radio, you took a different turn. I discover this music and the music thats on this album until is in my teen. I was listening to motown it was only about 14 or 15 years old that i listen to this music. It is kind of like my coming out party, at 67 years old, i decided, yes, i am ready and i can do this. You lighted it as a teenager. I loved it. You still went the jazz route. It was the easier way for me to go. Now, that sounds funny. Easier because what . Aint nothing is easier about jazz. Easy for me because this was a music that my parents play in the house all the time. And, when i started singing even though i started singing more motown music, most people said i did not phrase right. When i started singing solo at 16, i started doing jazz. I dont know, it was there, it was the thing that i listen to and easier for me. My mother have listened to fitzgerald when she was pregnant with me and i never understood why that i could do. You said two things, i want to go back to get them. One, it is been 100 years since your album is available. Say something of the grand institution. Fitzgerald gave us a wealth of music. I dont think anyone would think about jazz without thinking of ellis fitzgerald. Shes i would say she and billy halladay are the two singers whose shoulders i shall stand on. When we are thinking of jazz singers, those are the two names that come to mind for a lot of people. Ellis fitzgerald was always i thought of her as a voice of god. I want to go back to i am fascinated by what they told you back in the day, i want to ask you what have you learned and they said it back then that you did not phrase right and what did you learn of phrases and style songs . Each individual has their own way of interpreting songs and hearing a song and i have learned to accept the voice that i have over the years. I used to think that my voice was not black enough because i cannot do that. The runs. I cannot do that. I have never been able to do that. I used to be very frustrated by that. Secretly, part of me doing this album was my way of saying okay, yall, i am black, okay . I am really am. I can sing. I think what i try to tell young singers is dont try to imitate somebody else. You have to learn to embrace your voice, thats what i had to do. I had to learn to embrace my voice and embrace who i am. How did you not take offense at these black folks facing reality and it was not right. I had to not Pay Attention to that. I learned over the years to, you know, develop a thick skin so that you know people that would criticize me for the way that i sang, including my own people, i would just walk away from that and stand firm in the dee dee bridgewater that i was and that i am. It is taken years. I can say today at my age and say what this is. This is who i am. That started for me about 50. I was conscious and a little self conscious about myself. I think thats why if someone youtubes me and catches me live, i would sing much harder than i do on a recording because i always felt that i need to belt it out and it is only now that i am starting to go over oh, i dont have to. There is a microphone and i c t cannot use a microphone to do that for me. Thats something that comes with age and wisdom. I think the four of us we are willing to be honest about it. Well find ourselves in the same company as you. Thats the notion of admitting and as we age, so many of us still feel for whatever reason or reasons that we have something to prove. Is that interesting . I heard that comment loud and clear. At 67, i cannot do these jobs. As we get older, we feel that we still have things to prove. Thats very true. In this album and this is the new album that is a perfect example of feeling like i needed to prove something. On one hand. I am doing music that i have always wanted to do. I thought i needed to prove, yes, i am able to singing black and being soulful is not associated with being soulful. For me as a singer, i have always had to incorporate the acting, i have always had to incorporate something that i felt is going to make people feel like what i am doing is easy, you know . It does not warrant all of this intelligence that people associate with jazz music and listen to jazz. I really dont know what that is. I do feel like it is interesting. I think that, yeah, even at this age and even with the knowledge that i have of having achieved all the things that i want to, i dont feel like i want to prove more stuff and still do some more stuff. Now, it is age related. I can still do this at this age. Yes, yes. You still got it. How did you figure out of all the stuff that you could have done and all the stuff that you listen to as a teenager. You got some good stuff, how did you pick these. You got some bb king on you and al green. Yes, some oldest, greatest singers. I dont know, they were just songs that popped into my head. I sat down with kirk and i made a list of songs and we started out about 25 songs and as we talked about what we were trying to do, i hone in all the songs that i selected. Ti am inl memphis, i have to. I love Elvis Presley when i was a little girl. One of my business was going to grace land. I had to go see him. I have to go. Mama, please, no, this is my thing and you are coming with me. She appreciated it, too. I think the thing in the end that was important to me was honoring people who meant something to me. Bb king, i had to do bb king. He embraced me. Every time i saw bb king over the years from that moment, i met him in 86. From that moment until his death, you know, if we were in the same city and doing the same festival, he would say dee dee bridge, why wont you sit in with me, i would be there. There is Different Reasons behind each of these songs. I had to do cannot get next to you was not in the fame framtii was looking at. I always wanted to sing that song. There is 13 tracks. You had to go there, huh . Hai had to. [ laughter ] you cannot. Something about the gospel music. However we replace it recently, we have been doing in live shows, purple rain. But, precious lord, i think it started talking to me as i saw my Mothers Health is declod decli declining. It is a soothing and healing song for me when i do it in performance because we need that. We need that spiritual hand. Yeah. I love this photo. Put it up. I think i was about two and a half years old. My father was in the band of diana washington. He was playing lead trump et. I walked out and that was the officer there taking pictures. Held me in her arms so my mother and father, shes going to be a singer like me one day. If you cannot be blessed by that moment as you just saw, dee dee bridgewater, memphis, yes, i am ready. Dee dee, i love you, glad to have you back. Thank you so much for having me. My pleasure. Please welcome Shepard Fairey in this program. Next month hes a subject of a new documentary on hulu. His show is called damaged. Shepard, good to have you here. Good to meet you. We talked about you and your cover art and all of that and those guys love you. I think we are on the same page. They are heroes of mine because they both used their art forms to Say Something social and political. So it came to me to work on the rage packet. I was honored and pushing him in the same direction. Everybody knows your work and sees the obamas. Tell me about wShepard Fairey, give us the condensed version of who you are really. I grew up in carolina. I like to draw when i was young but then seeing how art can be applied to some things creative and rebellious, skateboarding and punk rock. I moved to the new punk rock which is hiphop. And you know, i just liked the idea of using art to reach a lot of people and not in the elitist was but in a populous way of something to say. If you are going to take the time to communicate, why not have it meaningful. Fast forward to that part of your life. Your biggest work to date is the whole poster. The most recognizable piece of work. Yeah thats saying when global and almost instantly, obamas p popularity is what propel that. I was lucky to create something that people thought it is compelling enough to become these similar bomymbols. You met obama . Yes, i have. What did he say to you about the poster . He said he was grateful for it and he thinks artists are an important things and he learned enough about my background and he had several people that worked with him and knew history and of the things i have done against the iraq war and patriot act. I think he was flattered that i would sacrifice my street credit to do something. It was really cool that he got that deep on it. Obama is a really extraordinary human being. I think that he had some successes and many failures. I would like to see things pushed in a progressive direction. Overall, we are all to blame collectively for where we are with trump and obama was not able to do more. I dont like to play the blame game with specific people. I try to plug in my art to where it needs to be plugged. I think you said smoothly that he was not as aggressive or you wanted him to be on certain polici policies. You dont regret. You dont redprgret the poster though . No, i dont. Everyone makes decisions based on everything you know up to that point and so what i knew up to that point was where obama stands on producing the green energy and technology and universal healthcare and clos c quantanamo. Thats you will you can ever do. Sure. I continue to push on issues that i care about and critique him. I was not a cheer leader who had always drank the koolaid and supporting him. I was upset of drones. For those who know you threw the obamas hope poster. How did you use your art during the eight years of presidency to speak . I supported the occupy movement vigorously, i have done images of Campaign Finance reform and you know corporate influence and politics and a corrupting force of democracy. I made a lot of images supporting and i did a portrait of protesters and putting in the style of the whole poster but it said, we are the holk of 99 . I have done a lot of imagery about different issues and environmental and destruction and i believe Climate Change is one of the biggest threats we are facing and not taken serious enough. There is too many to just go through the list. I am curious of those who they have not seen the rest of your show. What did that poster of obama and others say to you about the power of street art . Well, it says that people respond to imagery that maybe, hits them in the gut and then hopefully, they respond intellectually. We are in dated with so much white noise at the time, it needs to really, really impact it emotionally and breaking through the expedition. Thats where the magic is in art. Every image i make, i am trying to achieve that and some succeed and some dont. People do speak the language of images. Look at the way that instagram works and social media. What i am trying to do is harness whats good about that and stay away from the way that which could create a degradation of the quality of work. Do you see street art growing as a way of expression and protesters protesters . I do. It is grown through the 2000s. Some of that is based on the excitement around cache. There is a lot of active movement thats incorporated it. People see to whatever cause. Whether i want to put art in the public space or saying something specific of this issue. I think when you encounter street art, the idea that whoever placed it there is a risk taker and somebody putting it out is powerful and people come to understand that. Also transmits through social media as well. Yeah, i can send you a jpeg. In this situation of the real world, wow, it is way more exciting. I believe that everything that demonstrates a willingness to act has the power to encourage people to act. Two things i want to cover to get you out of here. The documentary made in conjunction and james franco Production Company with hulu, the story of my art and life when i was a kid growing up south carolina, the womens marches, i created the wheel of people and create a series of the womens marches. They went viral and almost as wide as the obama poster did. What i am proud of is it shows consistency and evolution in my work. So fiailures but i think i am proud of milpita my tennacity. Tell me about the show. Well, it is called damaged. Confronting and diagnosing is the first step of solving the phobia. It approached the environment and the lesson of quality of media, with the exception of your show, of course. Thank you. [ laughter ] these are things that we need to honestly appraise and say, which way do we want to go . Do we want to raise it to the bottom and you know with the darker side of our human impulses or do we want to rise above . Yeah, i am struggling to push the ideas forward in my work that yes, we are better than this. It is a beautiful struggle, we are glad to have a chance to watch it. So, shepard far rapiirey. Thank you so much. Thats our show tonight, thanks for watching and as always, keep the faith. For more information on todays show, visit www. News12 eastend. Hi, i am tavis smiley, join me next time for a conversation of entrepreneuring entrepreneurs growing sales. Thats next time, well see you. Thats next time, well see you then. And and by contributions to your pbs station, from viewers like you. Thank you. Today on americas test kitchen, julia makes japanesestyle stir fried noodles with beef, adam reviews knife sharpeners, and bridget cooks the best fried brown rice with pork and shrimp. Right here on americas test kitchen. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by dcs. Dcs manufacturers of professionally styled indoor and outdoor kitchen equipment