Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
Kandace Springs Sings Billie Holiday
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
Yoko Miwa (left) accompanies Sheila Jordan at Thelonious Monkfish in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Dec. 2.
(Photo: Janice Tsai)Sheila Jordan reigns undisputedly as mellow mistress of any jazz club she visits. She strolled into Thelonious Monkfish, pan-Asian nightspot in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Dec. 2 and charmed her way into the lives of sushi-nibbling fans, making a heralded appearance with Yoko Miwa’s Trio.
Emerging with russet bangs over a knowing smile and wearing a floral wrap over a black shift, Jordan displayed effortless style. From the git-go, she reveled in every tune. A snap! from the mic played into her opening gambit: “What was that?” she grimaced, blue eyes a-pop. “That’s not how I scat!” Then scat she did, spinning commentary on local geography during “How Deep Is The Ocean,” and skirting tremolo wobble on “If I Had You.”
She delighted us with ballad rarities, meticulously enunciating Bob Dorough’s “Baltimore Oh-oh-oh-oriole” and each word of Ray Noble’s “The Touch Of Your Lips.” She treated us to a never-heard verse, cueing the trio to a medium bounce and glissing each word of the title (she also slipped in quotes from nursery rhymes and Sonny Rollins’ “St. Thomas”).
The Great American Songbook is Jordan’s oyster and she had us all shucking along. The trio’s kick-ass break-tune, Mingus’ “Boogie Stop Shuffle,” found Barrett bowing with pinpoint fury, Miwa hammering Parlan-style, and Scott Goulding barreling his toms.
Nearing 90, Jordan is still jazz’s tremulous butterfly. She never negates pleasure in spontaneously cherry-picking anecdotes from her autobiography to regale the crowd. She weaved hard-wired still-wriggly threads of memory from her Detroit youth, creating a tapestry of Charlie Parker lore: “The Bird” morphed into bop chestnut “Quasimodo,” then its Tin Pan Alley ancestor “Embraceable You.”
She also celebrated her Native American heritage, cooing a cool poetic “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress” over Barrett’s graceful thrumming.
Sheila’s latest avatar, the teacher/philosopher, emerged as she taught us to scat a minor 12-bar blues [boo-DAY-doo-AH], in call and response, trading increasingly complex fours and Christmas carol quotes. “Now, everybody improvise!” she shouted into the giddy chaos. Among the enthusiastic participants in the ecstatic audience were Berklee singer/educators Maggi Scott, Kris Adams, Kaoruko Pilkington and Lisa Thorson.
Jordan delivered a brief valedictory speech over scraped brushes in the stilled room: “Whatever your dream is, don’t leave it. Don’t give up!” She capped set one with “Look For The Silver Lining,” packing oodles of joyous experience into “sadness” and “strife.” She’ll be back, and we’ll be grateful. DB
“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”
Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
James Brandon Lewis earned honors for Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Three of his recordings placed in the Albums of the Year category.
Jul 17, 2025 12:44 PM
You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
Galper was often regarded as an underrated master of his craft.
Jul 22, 2025 10:58 AM
Hal Galper, a pianist, composer and arranger who enjoyed a substantial performing career but made perhaps a deeper…
Chuck Mangione on the cover of the May 8, 1975, edition of DownBeat.
Jul 29, 2025 1:00 PM
Chuck Mangione, one of the most popular trumpeters in jazz history, passed away on July 24 at home in Rochester, New…
“Hamiet was one of the most underrated musicians ever,” says Whitaker of baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett.
Jul 8, 2025 7:30 AM
At 56, Rodney Whitaker, professor of jazz bass and director of jazz studies at Michigan State University, is equally…
