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…
Prestige is releasing five more titles in its Rudy Van Gelder Remasters series on Sept. 26. Van Gelder originally recorded these now-classic jazz titles in his New Jersey studio in the 1950s through the early 1960s. He transferred the original analog stereo master tapes to compact disc using 24-bit digital technology for these reissues.
“I remember the sessions well,” Van Gelder said. “I remember how the musicians wanted the sound and I remember their reactions to the playbacks. Today, I feel strongly that I am their messenger.”
The titles in the upcoming reissue series include John Coltrane’s Soultrane (1958), Miles Davis All Stars’ Walkin’ (1954), Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis’ Cookbook, Vol. 1 (1958), Jack McDuff’s The Honeydripper (1961) and Etta Jones’ Don’t Go To Strangers (1960).
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.
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.
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“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…
