Sheila Jordan

Early career

Sheila Jordan grew up in Summerhill, Pennsylvania, before returning to her birthplace of Detroit, Michigan, in 1940. She sang and played piano in jazz clubs in Detroit. She was a member of the trio Skeeter, Mitch, and Jean (Skeeter Spight, Leroi Mitchell, and Jordan was "Jean"), which wrote lyrics to music by Charlie Parker. They went to Parker's performances in Detroit, met him, and he would ask them to sing.

In 1951, Jordan moved to New York City and studied harmony and music theory with Lennie Tristano and Charles Mingus, but she concentrated on the music of Charlie Parker. Jordan and Parker became friends before his death in 1955. She refers to him a one of her teachers. From 1952–1962, she was married to Duke Jordan, who played piano in Parker's band.

In a 2012 interview with JazzWax, when asked why she moved to New York, Jordan said, "I guess I was chasin' the Bird [Parker]." When asked if the song "Chasin' the Bird" was written for her, she replied, "No. I don't know how that rumor got started."

1960s

In the early 1960s, Jordan performed at the Page Three Club in Greenwich Village with pianist Herbie Nichols, and at other bars and clubs in New York City. For much of the 1960s, she withdrew from clubs to raise her daughter, and she sang in church instead. She was a typist and legal secretary for twenty years with little time to concentrate on music until the age of 58.

In 1962, she worked with George Russell, with whom she recorded the song, "You Are My Sunshine" on his album The Outer View (Riverside). Later that year she recorded the album Portrait of Sheila which was released by Blue Note Records. Her long working relationship with Steve Kuhn began in the early 1960s. She also played with Don Heckman (1967–68), Lee Konitz (1972), and Roswell Rudd (1972–75).

1970s to present

In 1974, Jordan was Artist in Residence at City College of New York and taught there from 1978–2005. In 2006, she was presented the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) Lifetime Achievement Award and celebrated 28 years as an Adjunct Professor of Music. She has taught at University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Vermont Jazz Center as well as teaching international workshops.

On July 12, 1975, she recorded Confirmation. One year later she did the duet album Sheila, with Arild Andersen for SteepleChase. In 1979, she founded a quartet with Steve Kuhn, Harvie S, and Bob Moses. During the 1980s, she worked with Harvie S as a duo and played on several records with him. Until 1987 she worked in an advertising agency and recorded Lost and Found in 1989.

Jordan is a songwriter who works in bebop and free jazz. In addition to the aforementioned musicians, she has recorded with the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, Cameron Brown, Carla Bley, and Steve Swallow. In the UK she appeared with former John Dankworth Band vocalist Frank Holder. She has led recordings for Blue Note, Blackhawk, East Wind, ECM, Grapevine, Muse, Palo Alto, and SteepleChase

In 2012, she received the NEA Jazz Masters Award. Her biography, Jazz Child: A Portrait of Sheila Jordan, was written by vocalist and educator Ellen Johnson and was published in 2014.

Awards

As leader

As featured vocalist

With Carla Bley

With Cameron Brown

With Jane Bunnett

With George Gruntz

With Bob Moses

With Roswell Rudd

With Steve Swallow