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American jazz trumpet player, born 10 October 1942 in Urbana, Illinois, USA.
Hard bop musician, Cecil Bridgewater has been the longtime trumpeter with the Max Roach Quartet. After studying music at the University of Illinois, he teamed up with tenorman Ron Bridgewater in the Bridgewater Brothers Band (1969). He was married to singer Dee Dee Garrett (aka Dee Dee Bridgewater) for part of the 1970s. In 1970, he was with Horace Silver, and then he worked with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis orchestra (1970-1976). Cecil Bridgewater started playing with Max Roach in the early ’70s, and was a key part of his groups ever since. He has performed with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson, and Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Bridgewater recorded his long overdue debut as a leader on a Bluemoon disc in 1993.