Sheila Jordan, Bebop singer, passes

Lars Bjorn

Sheila Jordan, bebop singer extraordinaire, died August 11 at the age of 96 at her apartment in New York City. She was one of the underappreciated voices in jazz, but not in the Detroit Metro area. She was born in Detroit in 1928 and attended Cass Tech High School, hung around Detroit jazz clubs where she met many musicians. She never forgot her hometown and it never forgot her.

But she had a troubled upbringing. She was raised by alcoholic grandparents in Pennsylvania coal country and told NPR in 2014 that she was unhappy as a child, and that the only thing she could do about it was sing. Then one day, she spotted a jukebox with a Charlie Parker tune: ”I put in my nickel and I said that’s the music…That’s the one I’ll dedicate my life to.” She became friends with Parker and In l951 she married one of his collaborators, Duke Jordan, and then worked with many Black jazz artists. She faced much prejudice because of this. Jordan was a talented pianist but his heroin habit led to him abandoning her and their child in 2009. She struggled to support herself as a secretary while still keeping music in her life.

She sang in clubs at night and worked in the daytime. She never hit the big time, but she became a distinguished educator. For decades she taught jazz vocal workshops at CCNY and at other institutions. In 2012, the NEA named her a Jazz Master.

That same year she performed in Ann Arbor at the Kerrytown Concert House and opened the SEMJA/KCH Club Series in October with the Dobbins/Krahnke/Weed trio. Earlier that year she’d appeared at the Detroit Jazz Festival and the Firefly Club in Ann Arbor. I was there for all these performances and had the privilege of meeting Sheila at her hotel. She was a very down-to-earth person and even came to our house to iron her clothes! I was very impressed with her warmth and artistry on stage. Her singing was like nothing I’d ever heard before.

As she recounts in “Sheila’s Blues,” she heard Charle Parker in Detroit at the Club Sudan and the Club El Sino and that turned her into a devotee of bebop. She was only 14 years old when she met Parker in the alley behind the Sudan. Many songs associated with Parker like “Relaxing at the Camarillo” were part of her regular repertoire. Other tributes were to Miles Davis and Ella Fitgerald, for whom she made a wonderful version of “Lady be Good’ at a slower than usual tempo.

Her recorded legacy is substantial and includes a number of gems. Her debut album Portrait of Sheila (Blue Note, 1963) was one of them. Another gem can be found on Winter Sunshine (Just in Time, 2008). Jordan had a special connection with bassists like Arild Andersen, Harvey Swartz, Steve Swallow and Cameron Brown, often recorded as a bass/voice duo.

Sheila Jordan was one of a kind and an artist who connected with her audience as soon as she started singing. She had what Charlie Parker called “million dollar ears.”