Sheila Jordan

Born: November 18, 1928

Sheila Jeanette Dawson, 18 November 1928, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Raised in poverty in Pennsylvania’s coal-mining country, Jordan began singing as a child and by the time she was in her early teens was working semi-professionally in Detroit clubs. Her first great influence was Charlie Parker and, indeed, most of her influences have been instrumentalists rather than singers.

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.

Portrait Now

By Sheila Jordan

Label: Dot Time Records
Released: 2025

Kelly Green, Jen Allen, Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride Big Band, Gino Amato & More

by Mary Foster Conklin
September 8, 2025

This broadcast includes new releases from Kelly Green, Jen Allen, Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride Big Band and Gino Amato, with birthday shoutouts to Alice Coltrane, Dinah Washington, Adrienne Fenemor, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Linda May Han Oh, Meshell Ndegeocello, Rachel Eckroth and Vicki Burns, among others, plus a remembrance of Honorable Man Ronny Whyte. Happy listening and ...

Catina De Luna, Otmaro Ru��z, Roswell Rudd, Sheila Jordan

by Katchie Cartwright
September 7, 2025

A two-fer on this week's edition of Caminhos do Jazz... First up is Lado B Brazilian Project 2 (Sunnyside, 2025), from Brazilian singer-pianist Catina De Luna and Venezuelan guitarist and arranger-producer Otmaro Ruíz, the second installment of the illustrious duo's B-side project. Read our review here. The idea of the project is to interpret what we ...

Sheila Jordan (RIP), Phil Haynes, Jason Kao Hwang, and Sarah Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
September 4, 2025

This episode pays tribute to the recently deceased Sheila Jordan by playing music from the early and later parts of her long career. It also features music from Sarah Wilson, Jason Kao Hwang, and Phillip Haynes among others. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & ...

Remembering Sheila Jordan, New Releases By Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine, Catina DeLuna, the Airmen Of Note, Richard Johnson, Jorge Garcia. Patricia Brennan & More

by Mary Foster Conklin
September 1, 2025

This broadcast includes new releases from the Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine, Catina DeLuna and Otmaro Ruiz, the Airmen Of Note, Richard Johnson, Jorge Garcia plus a single from Patricia Brennan, with birthday shoutouts to lyricists Dorothy Parker and Carolyn Leigh, pianist Mal Waldron (100!), Nora Germain, Fostina Dixon, Anita Wardell, Naomi Moon Siegel, ...

Cecilie Strange, Martin Kuchen, Lina Allemano & Sheila Jordan

by Maurice Hogue
September 1, 2025

This show touches on Scandinavian artists with new releases--Swedish saxophonist Martin Kuchen and an expanded Angles (now up to 11 members), the fast-rising Lightning Trio from Norway, and Danish saxophonist Cecilie Strange. There are tributes to the recently passed--the most amazing Sheila Jordan and tubaist Joseph Daley. Plus, previews of upcoming releases by Toronto trumpeter Lina ...

Jane Ira Bloom, Kieran Brown, Charlie Parker & Sheila Jordan

by Joe Dimino
August 31, 2025

Our journey into the 921st episode of Neon Jazz begins with the incomparable Sheila Jordan--a legend whose fearless spirit and boundless artistry will forever echo through jazz. She left us on August 11, 2025, at the age of 96, after a life lived with unmatched courage, grace, and musical brilliance. In her honor, we open with ...

Sheila Jordan, Nancy King, Ola Onabule, Dara Starr Tucker, Nicolas Bearde and More!

by Jua Howard
August 29, 2025

Greetings Music Family! It's time for another episode of the “First Instrument Jazz Show." I've got music from two vocal jazz giants who recently joined the ancestors, Sheila Jordanand Nancy King. I also have a lot of new music to share including music from Ola Onabule, Dara Tucker, Sinne Eeg, Kelly Green, Camille Thurman and Peter ...

Remembering Sheila Jordan: Sheila's Blues

by Ian Patterson
August 26, 2025

NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan, who passed away on August 11, 2025, at the age of 96, will be remembered as one of the great improvising jazz vocalists--imitated by many, bettered by none. Born in Detroit in 1928, Jordan's life-long love affair with jazz began in the 1940s when she heard Charlie Parker. “After ...