Bridgewater [3] won a Tony for her role in The Wiz [4], won a Grammy for an Ella Fitzgerald [5] tribute, had early-career dabbles in fusion jazz and R & B; more recently, she recorded a disk dedicated to Kurt Weill [6], and another of Parisian café music sung completely in French. But her latest, Red Earth, ranks with Dear Ella as her best yet, featuring a seamlessly buoyant mélange of American jazz and African pop from Mali. She’s bringing over seven African musicians for a mere two weeks to supplement her marvelous trio (which includes ace Nuyorican pianist Edsel Gomez [7]) and the Dakota has bagged two of those precious nights.

Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant [8], 1010 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis; 612-332-1010.