by Dick Edelstein

A message from Spotify on my phone this morning announced that jazz singer Sheila Jordan had just dropped a track from her forthcoming album. A musician of very long experience among the inner circle of bebop jazz stars—iconic players, most of whom are no longer with us—she is an iconic figure herself, still playing and recording regularly with outstanding musicians. You may wonder why she is not better known.

It’s complicated. Although few women have made a big reputation in jazz, we can think of several well-known vocalists who earned enduring reputations, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday. Like Jordan, they all launched their careers in the mid-20th century. Perhaps because of extreme poverty in her early life and the need for a steady income after the birth of her daughter in 1955, Jordan kept her day job until she was nearly 60, combining her work in an advertising agency with her career as a singer, recording artist and teacher. In one interview, she makes the point that it was easier for her to sing what she wanted if she did not have to rely on her income as an artist.

In 1962, after a decade of intense involvement in the New York bebop scene, Jordan recorded her first album on the renowned Blue Note label, a great recording in the original version and the remastered 1995 release. She did not record again under her own name until 1977 but since then has recorded over thirty albums and has appeared as a featured vocalist on dozens more, working with distinguished musicians like saxophonist Archie Shepp, trumpeter Don Cherry, and avant-garde vocalist Carla Bley. Jordan’s close association with the avant-garde partly accounts for her relative obscurity since the audience for this sub-genre is pretty small in comparison to its artistic allure. Read more »