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…
The 1985 legendary Pat Metheny/Ornette Coleman collaboration Song X has been reissued by Nonesuch Records. The remixed and remastered album includes six new songs in addition to the original eight tracks.
On the 20th anniversary of the release, guitarist Metheny says, “There may have been a few different decisions made about what did and didn’t get included on the record and especially about how the whole thing actually sounded ... with this opportunity to look at things again two decades later, it seems upon review that although I did pick the right takes of the tunes that were on the original version of the release, there were in fact major improvements to be made in the mixing and mastering of the record.”
The remastering and remixing help to create “a more complete picture of our efforts,” Metheny says. In addition to Metheny and Coleman, Song X features Charlie Haden on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums and Denardo Coleman, Ornette’s son, on drums and percussion. The album was remastered by Ted Jenson at Sterling Sound and remixed by Peter Karam.
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.
Aug 12, 2025 10:33 AM
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.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
“I love the place that fate or whatever has positioned me in Gil Evans’ life and legacy,” said Ryan Truesdell.
Aug 5, 2025 12:26 PM
“I originally set out to give two years of my life to Gil,” Ryan Truesdell said of his mindset in 2009, when he…
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…
