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…
Although not aired on the prime time nationwide broadcast on CBS, several jazz awards were presented at the 44th annual Grammy Awards on Wednesday nights. Among these awards were:
Best Contemporary Jazz Album: M2 by Marcus Miller (Telarc)
Best Jazz Vocal Album: The Calling by Dianne Reeves (Blue Note)
Best Jazz Instrumental Solo: “Chan’s Song,” Michael Brecker, soloist; track from Nearness Of You—The Ballad Book (Verve)
Best Jazz Instrumental Album: This Is What I Do, Sonny Rollins (Milestone)
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Homage To Count Basie, Bob Mintzer Big Band (Digital Music Products)
Best Latin Jazz Album: Nocturne, by Charlie Haden (Verve)
In addition, other awards of note came from Best Spoken Word album, which went to Q: The Autobiography Of Quincy Jones (Simon and Schuster Audio); Best Historical Album, which went to Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday On Columbia 1933-1944 (Columbia/Legacy Recordings); and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, which went to Diana Krall’s The Look Of Love (Verve), which was engineered by Al Schmitt.
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…