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Sheila Jordan
Working chiefly with black musicians, she met with disapproval from the white community but persisted with her career. She was a member of a vocal trio, Skeeter, Mitch And Jean (she was Jean), who sang versions of Parker’s solos in a manner akin to that of the later Lambert, Hendricks And Ross. After moving to New York in the early 50s, she married Parker’s pianist, Duke Jordan, and studied with Charles Mingus and Lennie Tristano, but it was not until the early 60s that she made her first recordings.
One of these was under her own name, the other was The Outer View with George Russell, which featured a famous 10-minute version of "You Are My Sunshine". In the mid-60s her work encompassed jazz liturgies sung in churches and extensive club work, but her appeal was narrow even within the confines of jazz.
By the late 70s jazz audiences had begun to understand her uncompromising style a little more and her popularity increased - as did her appearances on record, which included albums with pianist Steve Kuhn, whose quartet she joined, and an album, Home, comprising a selection of Robert Creeley’s poems set to music and arranged by Steve Swallow.
A 1983 duo set with bassist Harvie Swartz, Old Time Feeling, comprises several of the standards Jordan regularly features in her live repertoire, while 1990’s Lost And Found pays tribute to her bebop roots. Both sets display her unique musical trademarks, such as the frequent and unexpected sweeping changes of pitch which still tend to confound an uninitiated audience.
Entirely non-derivative, Jordan is one of only a tiny handful of jazz singers who fully deserve the appellation and for whom no other term will do.
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Dan Pugach Big Band, George Cables, Arooj Aftab, Jason Keiser
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast includes Grammy nominations, new releases from the Dan Pugach Big Band, George Cables, Arooj Aftab, Jason Keiser plus a single from säje, with birthday shoutouts to Michelle Ann May and Jazz Master Sheila Jordan. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear. See them live, purchase their music so they can continue to distract, comfort, provoke, inspire and remind the world that A Woman's Place Is In the Groove. Playlist Jocelyn Gould Io's Orbit" from ...
Continue ReadingNew Releases Plus Birthday Shoutouts To Timeless Jazz Women Going Full Swing
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast includes new releases from Sarah McKenzie, Michael Weiss, Susan Alcorn, Vanessa Perica plus a second posthumous recording from Nora York, with major birthday shoutouts to Joni Mitchell (80!), Betty Bryant (92!), Sheila Jordan (95!), Bertha Hope (87!), Lani Hall (78!), Jen Hodge, Rene Marie, Miho Hazama, Kitty Margolis and Samara Joy, among others. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by seeing them live and online. Purchase their music so they can continue to distract, ...
Continue ReadingWhy Jazz: Part 1
by Monk Rowe
Season 2 of the Jazz Backstory podcast begins with a review of the devotion to the art required for a successful career. After the inspiration and exploration, what makes a young jazz musician stick with it? Sheila Jordan, Don Alias, Diane Reeves and others share their thoughts. ...
Continue ReadingSheila Jordan: Live at Mezzrow
by Angelo Leonardi
Inossidabile, leggendaria Sheila. Un anno fa usciva lo splendido inedito del 1960 con la Jordan agli inizi di carriera www.allaboutjazz.com/comes-love-lost-session-1960-sheila-jordan-capri-records e 6 decenni dopo la cantante è ancora on stage, in bella forma all'età di 93 anni. Com'è noto Sheila Jordan iniziò a cantare tardivamentepoco dopo i 30e per motivi famigliari sviluppò la sua carriera artistica dalla seconda metà dei settanta, quando aveva superato i quarantacinque. Nella maturità ci ha regalato le sue cose migliori, in un ...
Continue ReadingNew Releases Plus Jazz Master Sheila Jordan Celebrates Another Solar Journey
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast presents new releases from from Kate Hamann, Vanessa Racci, Sam Taylor, The Ostara Project, Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Kris Allen, plus a new single from Abbie Finn, with birthday shoutouts to lyricist Marilyn Bergman, Jazz Master Sheila Jordan, Cynthia Hilts, Nioka Workman, Cindy Blackman, Marianne Solivan, Jen Hodge and Johnny Mercer among others. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by purchasing their music during this time of pandemic so they can continue to distract, comfort, ...
Continue ReadingSeptember 2022: Jazz Child
by C. Michael Bailey
Sheila Jordan Live At Mezzrow's Cellar Music 2022 Nonagenarian Sheila Jordan is a jazz singer enjoying an incandescent twilight. In late 2021, Jordan appeared on Roseanna Vitro's Sing A Song of Bird (Skyline Records, 2021) singing a song contra-composed in her honor from Charlie Parker's Cheryl," -"Sheila, Jazz Child." Jordan, along with drummer Roy Haynes, remains the last living connection to the famous alto saxophonist, who is generously represented on Jordan's Live at Mezzrow. ...
Continue ReadingMary Lou Williams, Sheila Jordan & CeCe Gable
by Joe Dimino
The voice and range of Reno-based veteran jazz singer CeCe Gable kicks off the 760th Episode of Neon Jazz with music from her new album Next Year's Song. We follow that up with music from an inspiration to many in the jazz world, Sheila Jordan and a song from Live at Mezzrow. More music from talents including Evan Drybread, Mark Winkler and Deanne Matley keep the hour moving. Also, we feature new music from Deanna Witkowski and pay homage to ...
Continue ReadingNew York’s Longest Running Jazz Concert Series 'Highlights In Jazz' Celebrates 50 Years With Gala Concert On February 23, 2023
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
Producer Jack Kleinsinger Presents All-Star Lineup at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan, guitarists Gene Bertoncini and Russell Malone, bassist Jay Leonhart and many more jazz greats to be on hand for historic concert. Highlights in Jazz returns to BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center for a festive 5 th anniversary concert on Feb. 23, 2023 8 PM. Jack Kleinsinger, the founder and producer of the highly regarded landmark jazz series, has put together an exciting, generation-crossing ...
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Sheila Jordan, Jazz Legend, At Jimmy's In Portsmouth, September 11, 2022
Source:
Seacoast Jazz Society
On Sunday, September 11, at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club in jny: Portsmouth, New Hampshire the Seacoast Jazz Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering jazz music and jazz education, will host a special evening event and performance to honor legendary jazz singer, Sheila Jordan. Jordan’s career began in the 1950s. Today she still performs all over the world. She is one of the few jazz artists in this country to be awarded the distinction of “Jazz Master Fellow” by ...
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Jazz Child: A Portrait Of Sheila Jordan Biography By Ellen Johnson Released By Rowman And Littlefield
Source:
Ellen Johnson
When Sheila Jordan dropped a nickel in the jukebox of a Detroit diner in the 1940s and heard “Now’s The Time” by Charlie Parker, she was instantly hooked—and so began a seventy-year jazz journey. With Jordan’s full cooperation, author Ellen Johnson documents the fascinating career of the 85-year-old NEA Jazz Master who stands today as one of the worlds most deeply respected jazz vocalists and educators. Jazz Child: A Portrait of Sheila Jordan published by Rowman and Littlefield is the ...
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Sheila Jordan In Berkeley: Master Class Dec. 2, Concert Tribute Dec. 3
Source:
Terri Hinte Publicity
NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan will be in Berkeley in early December to teach, to sing, and to be honored. She is leading a master class on Sunday 12/2, at 12:00 noon, at the Jazzschool, and will be the guest of honor at a Jazzschool fundraiser to be held on Monday 12/3, at 8:00 pm, across the street at the Freight & Salvage. “The ‘participant’ portion of the workshop is sold out,” says Laurie Antonioli, the Director of the Jazzschool’s ...
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The Jazzschool Presents Sheila Jordan Tribute At The Freight, Berkeley, 12/3
Source:
Terri Hinte Publicity
In just three years, the Jazzschool’s annual Mark Murphy Vocal Scholarship fundraisers have become established as a highlight of the fall concert season. They provide an opportunity for Bay Area vocal jazz royalty to come together in celebration of their art and their mentors. On Monday, December 3, the Jazzschool will present its 4th annual vocal scholarship fundraiser at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley. Whereas in past years the focus was firmly on Murphy, his music, and his influence ...
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Countdown To Raise Funds for Revolutionary Publishing Technology Featuring Sheila Jordan
Source:
Sound Visions Media
NEA Jazz Master, Sheila Jordan, never imagined her biography would be an innovative digital media book. For more than five years, author and vocalist Ellen Johnson has been researching and writing Jordan's fascinating life story about the vocal jazz legend. Jazz Child: The Sheila Jordan Story," a Kickstarter crowd-funding project, will be created with the latest Digital Publishing System (DPS) from Adobe that is revolutionizing the world of rich media delivery on portable devices like the iPad, Samsung Galaxy and ...
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Interview: Sheila Jordan (Part 3)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Sheila Jordan isn't a trained singer. But she is a passionate singer whose roots date back to Charlie Parker and other bebop musicians of the late '40s and early '50s whom she knew and sang with as a teen. Sheila also is an example of an artist who had a very rough early life but used her love for music as a way to keep her spirits high and positive through it all. When Sheila walks into a room, everyone ...
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Interview: Sheila Jordan (Part 2)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
There aren't too many musicians today who have truly lived the jazz life in the '40s and '50s. To live the jazz life back then, you had to be completely committed to the music and at one with the artists. Creativity was currency, and the music you heard coming from musicians' instruments often said more about humanity than the written and spoken word. You also had to see integration as normal way of life at a time when much of society and ...
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Interview: Sheila Jordan (Part 1)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
On January 10, Sheila Jordan will be honored in New York by the National Endowment for the Arts as a 2012 NEA JazzMasterthe nation's most prestigious jazz award. Joining her on stage will be co-honorees drummer Jack DeJohnette, saxophonist Von Freeman, bassist Charlie Haden and trumpeter Jimmy Owens. It's going to be a big evening for her, and a long time coming. [Photo at top of Sheila Jordan at 52nd St. club in 1953, courtesy of Sheila Jordan] Many jazz ...
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L.A. Premiere of Jazz Messages: The Sheila Jordan Story
Source:
Sound Visions Media
Legendary jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan will present the L.A. première of Jazz Messages: The Sheila Jordan Story on Friday, March 11th. This unique performance is based on Jordan's upcoming biography, Jazz Child: The Story of Sheila Jordan, by author and vocalist, Ellen Johnson who will be reading excerpts from the forthcoming book while Ms Jordan shares her personal stories through her music. The book highlights Jordan's journey through poverty, racial and gender discrimination, and her passion for jazz and the ...
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Susan Krebs
vocalsMary Ann Hurst
vocalsGwen Sampé
vocalsLisa B aka Lisa Bernstein
vocalsLili Añel
vocalsOri Dagan
vocalsHalley Elwell
vocalsDeb Rasmussen
vocalsThe Royal Bopsters
band / ensemble / orchestraCheryl Richards
vocalsAimee-Jo Benoit
vocalsLakis Tzimkas
bassGuadalupe Raventos
vocalsBadrya Razem
vocalsBidi Dworkin
vocalsChristine Xu
vocalsPhotos
Music
Bebop Lives (Boplicity)
From: It's My Turn to Color NowBy Sheila Jordan