Aug 12, 2025 10:24 AM
Vocalist Sheila Jordan Dies at 96
Sheila Jordan, a vocalist who was celebrated for her scatting and lyric-improvising abilities, died Aug. 11 at her home…
Blind Pig Records has announced the signing of veteran blues and R&B singer Nappy Brown. The label will release his latest album, which he called “the best record I have done since 1955,” in the fall.
Originally a gospel singer, Brown recorded a string of hits for Savoy Records, including his signature tune, “Don’t be Angry,” and “The Right Time,” a song later associated with Ray Charles.
Producer Scott Cable, best known for his work with blues legend Carey Bell, has known Brown since childhood. “I have wanted to make this record for 20 years,” he said in a news release. “The time is right now for the public at large to hear and appreciate a singer of Nappy’s caliber with the right backing.”
Included in the backing lineup are guitarists Bob Margolin, Sean Costello and Junior Watson, keyboardist Jim Pugh of the Robert Cray band, bassist Mookie Brill—who just won a Blues Music Award as best bassist—and Brown’s Blind Pig labelmate, singer/harmonica player John Nemeth.
“It’s my time now,” Brown said of the project. “This is the first time in 30 years I’ve had the chance to do my music with cats that understand it. It is going to be on.”
Jordan was a dyed-in-the-wool bebopper whose formative musical experiences were with Charlie Parker.
Aug 12, 2025 10:24 AM
Sheila Jordan, a vocalist who was celebrated for her scatting and lyric-improvising abilities, died Aug. 11 at her home…
“I don’t guess I’m going to excite you; I know I’m going to excite you,” Palmieri said in an August 1994 DownBeat feature.
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Famed Latin jazz composer, bandleader and pianist Eddie Palmieri passed away in his New Jersey home on Aug. 6. He was…
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
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Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
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Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler…
