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Review: Chris Spector, Midwest Record www.midwestrecord.com
11/13/08SHEILA JORDAN/Winter Sunshine-Live at Upstairs: Reprising her 76th birthday recording with a set for her 80th birthday, this grande dame of jazz vocal shows about as much signs of slowing down as Marian McPartland. Certainly a survivor with a rich jazz history under her belt, she didn’t think she’d live to make this recording as the last birthday recording was done the night before surgery to fix a 99% blocked artery. None of that has slowed her down showing her to be a perfect example of music keeping you young. A stellar set for jazz vocal fans that want it old school without having to sit through the lessons. (Justin Time)
Listing: 11/13/08 - New York Times
SHEILA JORDAN (Tuesday through Thursday) Ms. Jordan is what they call a musician’s singer, sure of phrase and light on her feet. For this celebratory engagement, which kicks off on her 80th birthday, she corrals a handful of the players with whom she has a good rapport, including the pianist Steve Kuhn, the bassist David Finck and the drummer Billy Drummond. (Also on hand: a string quartet stocked with improvisers like the violinist Mark Feldman.) At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; cover, $35, with a minimum of $10 at tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen)
New York, NY, October 21, 2008 : One of the remaining legends of jazz vocals, Sheila Jordan, celebrates her 80th birthday with a series of performances November 18th – 20th at Dizzy’s Coca Cola along with the Steve Kuhn Trio and String Quartet featuring Steve Kuhn, piano; David Finck, bass; Billy Drummond, drums; Mark Feldman, violin; Barry Finclair, violin; Vincent Lionti, viola; Harold Birston, cello. Set times are 9:30 and 10:30 with reservations required. Contact 212.258.9595 or visit http://www.jalc.org/.
All Music Guide says that vocalist Sheila Jordan is "one of the most consistently creative of all jazz singers." Starting with her 1962 debut Blue Note recording Portrait of Sheila, Jordan has become an iconic jazz figure, influencing many other artists in the jazz vocal genre. The New York Times raves, "Her ballad performances are simply beyond the emotional and expressive capabilities of most other vocalists."
One of the most consistently creative of all jazz singers, Sheila Jordan has a relatively small voice, but has done the maximum with her instrument. She is one of the few vocalists who can improvise logical lyrics (which often rhyme), she is a superb scat singer, and is also an emotional interpreter of ballads. Yet despite her talents, Jordan spent much of the 1960s and '70s working at a conventional day job. She studied piano when she was 11 and early on, sang vocalese in a vocal group. Jordan moved to New York in the 1950s, was married to Duke Jordan (1952-62), studied with Lennie Tristano, and worked in New York clubs. George Russell used her on an unusual recording of "You Are My Sunshine" and she became one of the few singers to lead her own Blue Note album (1962).
However, it would be a decade before she appeared on records again, working with Carla Bley, Roswell Rudd, and co-leading a group with Steve Kuhn in the late '70s. Jordan recorded a memorable duet album with bassist Arild Andersen for SteepleChase in 1977, and has since teamed up with bassist Harvie Swartz on many occasions. By the 1980s, Sheila Jordan was finally performing jazz on a full-time basis and gaining the recognition she deserved 20 years earlier. She recorded as a leader (in addition to the Blue Note session) for East Wind, Grapevine, SteepleChase, Palo Alto, Blackhawk, and Muse, resurfacing in 1999 with Jazz Child. - by Scott Yanow from All Music Guide
For more information about Ms Jordan go to: www.sheilajordanjazz.com
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