Sheila's 95th Birthday Blast at Kolstein

Among the music this trio played was, “Autumn In New York”, “Dat Dere”, “The Touch Of Your Lips”, and “Sheila’s Blues”---one of about a dozen music pieces which Sheila wrote.

Sheila waxes, “I wrote ‘Sheila’s Blues’ about 25 years ago because people from the audience kept asking me where I came from…so if I close with the blues---they know, and then we were able to talk about another subject.”

A Detroit native, Sheila was drawn to NYC when she was eighteen, wanting to meet her idol, jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker (who became an American legend).  She married Parker’s celebrated pianist, Duke Jordan.  (Sheila’s daughter, Tracey, is a Sirius XM executive.)  More than fifty years ago Sheila purchased a New York City apartment, where she still lives.

“However, I have traveled and performed all over the globe, and I am scheduled well into 2024 with visits to Italy, Germany, England, and Vermont.”  For more than twenty years, Sheila has conducted a post-Independence Day jazz vocal workshop for the Vermont Jazz Center on the campus of The Putney School, Putney, Vermont.

Pianist-Composer John Lewis of the famous Modern Jazz Quartet recommended Sheila for a music teaching gig at City University of New York in 1972.  “Their faculty had a jazz music teacher, but no jazz vocal teacher like me,” she explains.

Turning 95 at Kolstein’s, Sheila declares, “Music has kept me in good health and alive.  I love singing with jazz bass players because their accompaniment allows my voice a range of freedom, improvisation, and experimentation."

Sheila Jordan’s vocal heroines are Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald.  “Ella was the finest scat singer who ever lived,” Sheila reminisces.

Sheila vents, “I’m frustrated how jazz, with its origin from African-American blues singers, was never given the proper status, acceptance, and recognition in America when compared to other music.”

Every week, Shelia can be found practicing, rehearsing, and meeting up with her fellow musicians and arrangers.  She has received many major music industry awards throughout her career.  “I’m still waiting for my big break!”  Sheila exclaims.