She sings and the bassist plays—one voice, one other
instrument, yet, the sound is that of a rich and full ensemble. I’m always thrilled that this one plus one
equals so much more. The she is Sheila Jordan and the bassist can be one of some
of the finest beginning with Steve Swallow and, later, including Cameron Brown
and Harvie S, two she has recorded and performed with often and extensively. And, when they make all that music they are
rhythmically right on, harmonically clever and sure footed, and emotionally captivating.
Ms. Jordan is just as exciting when she plays with any other
musical make up of combo, band, or orchestra. Personally, I’m knocked out by her
singing. Whether she performs something I never heard before or offers her unique
take on a standard, it feels as if I am hearing the song anew, because, she
always makes it a new presentation. No
one else pulls me into a note and moves me in unexpected directions around it in
the same way she does. No one is better at choosing just that perfect tempo and
arrangement to show the music to its absolute best. Nobody can tell the story of the song any
more meaningfully than she can to give that thoroughly fulfilled promise of a
vocal rendition. It’s put best, I think, by
reviewer Nicholas Mondello describing Sheila Jordan’s musical abilities
as, “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.”
The biography by Ellen Johnson titled Jazz Child: a Portrait of Sheila Jordan speaks to a life of
challenges and successes, and shares that Ms. Jordan was in the forefront of
jazz vocal education in the Americans and Europe, worked with a vast number of
jazz greats, put vocals to the poems of Robert Creeley, and played a leading
role in a jazz opera. She has won many fan-based polls and awards including
2012 NEA Jazz Master. More importantly, she has lived her life’s goal to sing
for more than seven decades and she is still amazing at it.
Here are some favorites of mine by Sheila Jordan that I hope
you enjoy.
“Native Shout Traditional Cherokee” and scat combined
—Blackbird:
With Harvey S and Phil Woods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg3-56SDWxA
IMHO---The way a ballad is to be sung. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YeQenzwKak
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