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Sheila Jordan

Sheila Jordan (Dawson) was born on the 18th November 1928 in Detroit, Michigan. She grew up in Summerhill, Pennsylvania and came back to Detroit in 1940/41 and began to play the piano and started singing. She was early influenced by Charlie Parker and was part of a trio (Skeeter,Mitch and Jean (Jean=Sheila Jordan)) which composed lyrics to Parker´s Arrangements. In 1951 she moved to New York and started studying harmony and music theory taught by Lennie Tristano and Charles Mingus. From 1952 to 1962 she was married to the pianist Duke Jordan from Bird (SteepleChase). In the early 60´s she had gigs and sessions in the Page Three Club in Greenage Village and was working in different clubs and bars in New York. In 1962 she was discovered by George Russell (Blue Note) who did a recording called "You Are My Sunshine"with her. Later on she did her very own record "Portrait of Sheila" recorded in Sep.19th, 1962 and Oct.12th, 1962 and "Outer View".In the mid 60´s she sang jazz liturgies in different churches like Cornell and Princeton, NYC. Jordan played with Don Heckman (1967-68), Lee Konitz (1972) and Roswell Rudd (1972-75).As well as Steve Kuhn. In 1974 she was "Artist in Residence" at the City College and was teaching there in 1975. On the 12th of July 1975 she recorded "Confirmation". One year later she did the duet album simply called "Sheila" with Arild Andersen (Bass) for SteepleChase in the end of ´76. In 1979 she founded a quartet with Steve Kuhn, Harvie Swartz and Bob Moses. During the 80´s she was working with Harvie Swartz 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. Sheila Jordan is a well-known songwriter and her skills (from bebob to free jazz) are magnificent. She recorded with the George Russell Sextet, George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band (TCB,ECM), Herbie Swartz (MA Recordings), Carla Bley and Steve Swallow (first played with S.Swallow during the mid 50´s). In addition to Blue Note she recorded for Eastwind, Grapevine, SteepleChase, Palo Alto, Blackhawk and Muse.

Discography

Portrait Of Sheila Jordan - Blue Note (1963)

Confirmation - Eastwind (1975)

Sheila - SteepleChase (1977)

Old Time Feeling - MUSE (1982)

The Crossing - Blackhawk Records(1984)

Body And Soul - CBS/Sony (1986)

Lost And Found - MUSE (1989)

Songs From Within - MA Recordings (1989)

One For Junior - MUSE (1991)

Heart Strings - MUSE(1993)

Jazz Child - High Note(1999)

Sheila´s Back In Town -Splasc(h) (2000)

From The Heart - 32 Records (2000)

Straight Ahead - YVP/Splasc(h) (2000)

I´ve Grown Accustomed To The Bass - High Note (2000)

The Very Thought Of Two - MA Recordings (2000)

Little Song - High Note (2003)

Believe In Jazz - ELLA Productions (2004)

For further recordings go: here

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Interviews and Biographics:

http://vancouverjazz.com/inview/plato_jordan.shtml http://www.jazzitalia.net/articoli/int_sheilajordan_eng.asp http://www.vtjazz.org/bios/jordan.html http://www.npr.org/programs/btaylor/archive/jordan_sheila.html http://www.onefinalnote.com/features/2005/jordan-sheila/