Cecil Bridgewater
American jazz trumpeter
Cecil Bridgewater (born October 10, 1942) is an American jazz trumpeter and composer.
Biography
Bridgewater was born in Urbana, Illinois and studied at the University of Illinois. He and brother Ron formed the Bridgewater Brothers Band in 1969, and in the 1970s he was married to Dee Dee Bridgewater. In 1970, he played with Horace Silver, and following this with Thad Jones and Mel Lewis from 1970 to 1976. Also in the 1970s, he played with Max Roach, starting a decades-long association. Elsewhere he has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Randy Weston, Charles McPherson, Joe Henderson, Roy Brooks, Abdullah Ibrahim and Sam Rivers. Bridgewater's first disc as a leader appeared in 1993. Bridgewater has also composed works premiered by the Cleveland Chamber Orchestra and Meet the Composer.
Cecil Bridgewater has become a great supporter of The Jazz Foundation of America in their mission to save the homes and the lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians including musicians that survived Hurricane Katrina. Cecil performed at the 2008 Benefit Concert, "A Great Night in Harlem" at the Apollo Theater.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cecil Bridgewater” as american jazz trumpeter. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as american jazz trumpeter. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1052278. VIAF identifies the subject as 5117035. The Library of Congress control number is n86140858. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1942, 1969, 1970 and 1976.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cecil Bridgewater”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cecil Bridgewater primary sources, Cecil Bridgewater archive and Cecil research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cecil Bridgewater”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cecil Bridgewater” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.