Mike Ragogna: What advice do you have for new artists?

Dee Dee Bridgewater: My advice, generally, is to learn as much as you can about your craft. Learn as much as you can about the business of your craft. And don’t be afraid and don’t compromise what you believe in as your music or your art. Because if you’re going to go down with a sinking ship, it might as well be your ship that you built, that you nurtured and that you believe in, instead of going down for something that somebody’s told you to do. That’s horrible. So go down with a fight and always keep fighting, and never accept “No.” That’s what I say.

Theo Croker: Mine is kind of on the same line: really learn your craft. I don’t mean just observe it. There’s so much information about music and how it works, and a lot of young people overlook that, but you really have to develop your craft and decide that you’re going to stick with this and continue to develop it. I really see Dee Dee and myself serving the music more than we serve ourselves. It’s come to us and it has a calling. You really have to have a lot of integrity and study and learn and understand what the music is and is about so that you can reach the highest level artistically. The other is to be yourself, as Dee Dee said. I want to go out on my spaceship, not somebody else’s and saying “Aye aye, sir.” If I go down, or up, it’s my ship. I think that’s important. For me there’s no end in sight for music and me.