CD Review: Sheila Jordan, "Comes Love"

 

Singer/Songwriter Sheila Jordan is still going strong at the age of 92.  She was unknown to me before I received a review copy of a CD Sheila recorded on June 10, 1960.  You might think that it would be hard to be impressed by a CD recording made over 60 years ago but you would be wrong.  Shelia Jordan is one of the few singers I have heard who knows what Jazz singing is all about.  What a pleasure to listen to her unique voice and effortless Jazz phrasing.  According to Sheila, most of her musical influences have been instrumentalists rather than singers.  This is not the first time that I have heard this comment coming from an outstanding Jazz singer.  Her greatest influence, and mine also by the way, was Charlie Parker.  She married pianist Duke Jordan and studied with Lennie Tristano.  She did not begin recording until the early 60's.

This CD recording was lost for a long while but was unearthed by record dealers Jeremy Sloan and Hadley Kenslow who purchased it among a large collection of acetates several years ago.  Jordan has no recollection of the names of her accompanists who are wonderful.  The CD was released by Tom Burns, the owner and founder of Capri Records who had this to say about the supporting group of musicians,  " Whoever is playing on it is really good. The group seems to have an empathic relationship with her".

I wanted to mention a quote from another world-class singer from this same period for whom I recently published a review of a new release of one of her old CDs,  Roseanna Vitro. Roseanna had this to say about Sheila Jordan, "Sheila Jordan is a one-of-a-kind artist who possesses the power to captivate audiences, inviting all to join her on a magical mystery tour of Jazz history".

This CD was re-released on September 17, 2021 on Capri Records and I highly recommend it.  I have attached a YouTube of Sheila singing the title tune from the CD, "Comes Love".   It's just terrific!  I also found another you TubeTube of Sheila singing "I Thought About You" that was from her CD "Straight Ahead" which was released on October 13, 2015.  It will give you a wonderful comparison between the younger and older Sheila Jordan.  Spoiler,  she is great on both cuts!

Playlist:

1.  I'm The Girl

2.  It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) 

3. Ballad of the "Sad Young Men"

4. Comes Love

5. Don't Explain

6. Sleeping Bee

7. When the World Was Young

8. I'll take Romance

9. These Foolish Things

10. Glad TO Be Unhappy

11. They Can't Take That Away From Me.

                                                                      "Comes Love"

                                                                     "I Thought About You"

CD Pre-Release Review: Sophisticated Ladies, A True Story

I listened to a new CD last week "Sophisticated Ladies, A True Story" that is sure to please most of the readers of this blog.  The Group is made up of four talented women who sing and play their own new and refreshing takes to some great standards along with some new songs and rhythms starting with Swing and moving to Cuban Bolero and Indian Bansuri.

The CD starts with an uptempo version of the Rogers and Hart gem, "The Lady Is A Tramp" that highlights the voice of Rachael Magidson on vocal, Emilie Calme on flute, Nolwenn Leizour on Upright bass and Valerie Chane-Tef on piano.  I think this cut represents the group's talents which were used in the creation of this CD.  Rachael does most of the vocals and also contributes on Flugelhorn and Percussion and Emile, Nolwenn and Valerie also provide vocals on cut #8, "Dancez Sur Moi".

I loved cut# 4, "Autumn Leaves" which is sung in French by Rachael.  It starts slow and moves into a fine Latin rhythm. Cut# 5 is an instrumental that features outstanding jazz flute by Emilie and great Latin rhythm from the rest of the group.

These four women bring not only their musical talents to this CD project but also share a musical story that reflects their personality and life experiences. If you like great standards approached in new ways by talented Jazz musicians, this CD is for you.

This is the first CD from the Sophisticated Ladies and will be available on October 18, 2012.  I know it will be well received and hope we hear more from these talented ladies in the near future.