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The spirit of Billie Holiday has followed Dee Dee Bridgewater around for nearly four decades.

"I read her autobiography when I was 19, and I was really struck by her life," Bridgewater says. "So when I listened to her music, it was like listening to the results of this woman's life. It always bothered me when I listen to her. It was always sad when I listened to Billie Holiday."

The jazz performer is paying tribute to Holiday on Friday evening at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. Her performance, "To Billie With Love: A Celebration of Lady Day," is an extension of the one-woman show "Lady Day." Although Bridgewater hoped to find a theatrical venue, she had trouble with funding.

"My idea was to update the play and add more interesting arrangements," Bridgewater recalls. "I just went through and picked the songs I loved the best. When the play fell through, I had already recorded the album."

"Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love, From Dee Dee" is set to be released in February. A full stage production isn't in the cards, but Bridgewater is taking the music to a few select concert halls, including Strathmore.

"I put together my dream band," Bridgewater says. "It's fantastic. I guess I was supposed to just do the album. I tend to believe things happen for a reason."

The genesis of the project goes back to 1986, when Bridgewater first starred in the show in Paris. She acted the part — in French — so convincingly, that the show moved to London's West End.

"That's a horrible way to learn French," she says. "It took me four months to learn the play. I had a French teacher who did not speak a word of English. From 9 to 5 every day, we worked on the play."

The show consumed Bridgewater. After the London run, she took a break from the stage.

"I felt like I was possessed," she remembers. "A lot of people said that they saw Billie Holiday onstage. In London, I received fan mail addressed to Billie Holiday. It was freaky. She just kind of stayed with me. I couldn't do concerts for four months because every time I opened my mouth, I sounded like Billie Holiday."

Two decades after taking off the Billie Holiday mask, Bridgewater felt comfortable enough to put it back on.

"I can identify with the music in another way because I've lived my life," she explains. "We're talking about 23 years later. That's why I felt I could go back and deal with her as a person. I've had my own experiences, a lot of which were painful. I've never had the drug issues she had, but I've had three marriages. I can identify with her on a different level."

Edsel Gomez, a New York-based pianist who has collaborated with Bridgewater for the past five years, took songs from the dialogue-driven play and put his own spin on them. The audience can look forward to standards like "Fine and Mellow" and "God Bless the Child."

"For this particular project, I got immersed in Billie Holiday's music 24/7," says Gomez. "I tried to be respectful to the originals, but be fresh. I made the arrangements open for her to be completely free."

Contrary to her experience in the play, Bridgewater no longer embodies Holiday or mimics her signature croon.

"I am celebrating Billie Holiday," she says. "I am not trying to impersonate her. I could have done that, but then it would have been ‘Dee Dee Bridgewater Impersonates Billie Holiday.' I didn't want the album to be sad or maudlin, because there's been enough of that."

Strathmore and Bridgewater go back to the Music Center's beginnings. The performer was one of the first acts to break in the stage during its first half season five years ago.

"I told her that she can come back sometime and do whatever she wants," says Strathmore artistic director Shelley Brown. "What we have here is an artist that does impressive work in the jazz world year after year."

Bridgewater's contributions stretch beyond jazz. Since 1999, she has served as ambassador for the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization. She gives concerts and speeches to raise awareness about starvation, and sang in Shanghai on World Hunger Day this year. The organization does more than drop relief packages into poor areas; teams visit remote villages to teach proper sanitation and farming practices. Bridgewater has visited communities in Africa and along the Amazon River in South America.

"I think this cooperative program they have is a beautiful way to get impoverished people to live a self-sustaining life," Bridgewater says. "It's fabulous because you see the pride of these people in these villages as they become self-sufficient."

Not asking Bridgewater about "The Wiz" is like not asking Paul McCartney about The Beatles. Long before Paris or winning a Grammy Award for the album, "Dear Ella," she won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Glinda in the original 1974 production of the Broadway hit. She still wears the title of Tony Award-winning actress proudly, but it doesn't come up very often during interviews.

"It's become part of the fabric of my being," Bridgewater says. "Having been a part of this historic musical that put this huge American fable with an all-black cast is pretty amazing. I've actually been talking about reminding people that I did ‘The Wiz' by singing at least ‘If You Believe.' Now that I'm getting older, it would be nice to do a retrospective of all these facets of my life."

Bridgewater may start resurrecting material from her pre-European days, but plans on remaining as host of NPR's "JazzSet." It's a position she has maintained for nine years.

"I fought very hard not to have a National Public Radio voice, but they got me in the end," she says with a laugh. "I love it because it's given me access to learn about musicians that I didn't particularly know."

Singing for an audience remains her true love, and she is fond of Strathmore.

"It's a beautiful stage," Bridgewater says. "I love it. It has beautiful acoustics. I'm really happy to be coming back."

Dee Dee Bridgewater will perform "To Billie With Love: A Celebration of Lady Day" at 8 p.m. Friday at the Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets range from $28 to $72. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.