Sheila Jordan, considered as one of jazz’s most underrated vocalists, passed away on Monday, August 11 at the age of 96. Her daughter, entertainment executive Tracey J. Jordan, announced the news on her Facebook page on Monday evening stating:
“Dear Jazz Community & Friends,
I am deeply saddened to share that my mother, Sheila Jordan, passed away peacefully this afternoon, Monday, August 11, at 3:50 pm. As she departed, Joan Belgrave’s rendition of “Bill for Bennie,” a bebop tune by Marcus Belgrave, filled the air, reflecting my mother’s profound connection to jazz….”
Jordan was a NEA Jazz Master and pioneering jazz vocalist known for her unique blend of bebop and scat with a thumping upright bass as her only instrument of choice.
Born Sheila Jeanette Dawson in Detroit, Michigan on November 18, 1928, Jordan was born to a teenage mother who sent her to live with her grandparents in Pennsylvania coal country. Her upbringing was filled with poverty and her grandparents struggled with alcoholism. To escape the pain of every day life, Jordan indulged herself in music as an escape from the harsh realities of life. She moved back to Detroit in 1942 to live with her mother, but it was where Jordan would begin her life in jazz. Charlie Parker was her biggest influence and it was his recording, “Now is the Time” that inspired her to be a jazz singer. As a teenager, she would She joined the trio Skeeter, Mitch And Jean which included Skeeter Spight and Leroi Mitchell who performed Charlie Parker’s music with Jordan writing lyrics to his music.
After attending Parker’s performance, he invited the trio to perform and referred to Jordan as “the lady with the million dollar ears.” She worked primarily with Black musicians, which caused her to be ostracized by the white community. In 1951, Jordan moved to New York City where she studied under Charles Mingus and Lennie Tristiano and a year later, she married pianist Duke Jordan, a frequent collaborator of Parker. Their ten-year marriage proved to be a tumultuous one due to Jordan’s drug use, but it produced a daughter, Tracey J. Jordan. As a single mother, Jordan would work as a secretary during the day and sing at various clubs at night. In 1962, at the age of 34, Jordan released her Blue Note Debut, Portrait of Sheila, becoming the first female vocalist to be record and release an album on the label.