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Stephanie Jordan
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2000 | SELF
Music
Press
(Published: February 17, 2019)
NEW ORLEANS - Jazz vocalist Stephanie Jordan will be the closing act for the Hilton Stage in Jackson Square opening day on Thursday, April 11, 2019 from 5:30 to 6:45 pm at the 36th Anniversary French Quarter Festival presented by Chevron. The free festival takes place April 11-14, 2019. Billed as the world's largest showcase of Louisiana music, food, and culture, French Quarter Festival will bring regional cuisine from more than 60 local restaurants, 1,700+ Louisiana musicians on 23 stages, and special events that showcase New Orleans' diverse, unique culture.
"I am excited to return for a second consecutive performance on the Hilton Stage in Jackson Square at the French Quarter Festival. Jazz is America's most original art form and the festival planners and sponsors are to be commended for keeping this music form alive", said Jordan.
Dubbed "Lady Jazz!" by Audix Microphones, Stephanie Jordan is consistently praised for her poise, elegance and soulful articulation. Jazz critic Sandy Ingram says "She's a singer with poise and pizzazz, with a voice and an appealing look that bring to mind Carmen McRae and Lena Horne." Stephanie's lyrical style has also been compared to her mentor Shirley Horn, and that of Diana Krall while other critics say it's more like living legend Nancy Wilson.
All About Jazz writes, "Her (Stephanie Jordan) tone is crisp, perfect, but not in that polished way that sounds like an opera singer attempting jazz. She is more like a master of technique, yet with plenty of soul."
Stephanie has performed worldwide including the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Marian's Jazzroom in Bern Switzerland, Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in Washington, D.C., and in the presence of the President and First Lady Michelle Obama at the Washington Convention Center. Jordan sang at the inaugural International Jazz Day presented by UNESCO which was celebrated by millions worldwide. Just as she had a decade ago at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Stephanie Jordan Big helped frame the moment of the evening at "The Power of Community: Katrina 10 Commemoration" with her performance of classic tune "Home" from the Broadway musical "The Wiz" during the commemoration".
Recognized internationally, the Sud Ouest French publication calls her "unbelievably superb." The Washingtonian Magazine labeled her "JAZZHOT."
In addition to Stephanie's performance in Jackson Square, the Hilton Stage returns with an all-star lineup of New Orleans' most respected artists and culture-bearers including Ellis Marsalis, John Boutté, Leroy Jones, Shannon Powell, Robin Barnes, and James Andrews.
French Quarter Festival is consistently voted ‘local favorite' while attracting a tremendous out-of-town audience. The appeal is the authenticity: attendees experience a broad range of Louisiana artists from several genres. In 2019 the free festival will feature music from more than 250 acts on 23 stages throughout the historic French Quarter, including 43 new acts. Those making debuts include Galactic, Big 6 Brass Band, Keith Burnstein's Kettle Black, Lil' Glenn & Backatown, The Royal Teeth, and Magnolia Sisters. In addition, musicians whose performances were cancelled due to inclement weather during the 2018 event were rebooked whenever possible.
French Quarter Festival presented by Chevron is produced by French Quarter Festivals, Inc., (FQFI) the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, which also produces Satchmo SummerFest presented by Chevron in August and Christmas New Orleans Style in December. FQFI's mission is to promote the Vieux Carré and the City of New Orleans through high quality special events and activities that showcase the culture and heritage of this unique city, contribute to the economic well-being of the community, and instill increased pride in the people of New Orleans. For more information about French Quarter Festivals, Inc. or any of these events, call (504) 522-5730 or visit www.fqfi.org.
Please visit www.StephanieJordan.com to learn more.
More Information: http://https://fqfi.org/ - JazzCorner News
(Published: January 20, 2019)
New Orleans' musical Jordan family, represented by Edward "Kidd" Jordan, Kent Jordan, Stephanie Jordan, Rachel Jordan and Marlon Jordan have been invited by perform for the 50th Anniversary of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival by Shell. The Jordan family is scheduled to perform on Friday, April 26, 2019 on the WWOZ Jazz Tent stage. In a recent feature story; In Kidd Jordan's family of musicians, it's practice, practice, practice, the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes of the Jordan's commitment to excellence. Together, the Jordans are a New Orleans' musical treasure that represents the breadth and depth of the Crescent City's musical talent.
Legendary saxophonist Sir Edward "Kidd" Jordan is acclaimed internationally as one of the true master improvisers still performing today. Knighthood was bestowed on Jordan by the Republic of France where he holds the title Chevalier des Artes et Lettres. Last year he received an honorary Doctor of Music from Loyola University New Orleans. Kidd earned a degree in music from Southern University Baton Rouge and a master's from Millikin University.
The list of artists he has performed with reads like a 40-year Grammy program; Cannonball Adderley, Fred Anderson, Ornette Coleman, Ed Blackwell, Ellis Marsalis, Ray Charles, Cecil Taylor, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Archie Shepp, Aaron Neville, Sun Ra, Peter Korvald, Alan Silva, Louis Moholo, Sunny Murray, Lena Horne, Gladys Knight, Big Maybelle, and Aretha Franklin... Jordan founded the Improvisational Arts Ensemble with Alvin Fielder, Clyde Kerr, Jr. and London Branch and later added Alvin Thomas.
Kidd Jordan headed the jazz studies program at Southern University New Orleans from 1972 - 2006. He has been documented by CBS 60 Minutes; received Offbeat's 1'st Lifetime Achievement Award for Music Education, SUNO Foundation BASH III honoree, and was a Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the Vision Festival XIII. In 2013 Jordan was designated a "Jazz Hero" by the Jazz Journalist Association. His teaching continues to build an everlasting legacy, former students includes; Bradford Marsalis, Jon Batiste, Donald Harrison, Charles Joseph, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Leroy Adams, Calvin Johnson, Sammie "Big Sam" William, Courtney Bryan and a host of others.
Flutist Kent Jordan is one of an infinite number of prolific musicians that swells from within the concrete jungle of the Crescent City. Although often regarded as a fusion musician, he is an assertive, cogent player of modern jazz as well, particularly on alto flute. Jordan studied at the New Orleans' Center for the Creative Arts where he was inspired by jazz patriarch, Ellis Marsalis, then completed his education at the Eastman School of Music.
While Kent has toured and recorded with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Alvin Batiste and the legendary Elvin Jones, Jordan's sound is uniquely his own, developed through years of study, performing, teaching and maturing. As writer Khephra Burns states, "The clear, authoritative voice that was uniquely his from his debut recordings has grown richer..."
Kent presently heads the music department at Lusher Charter School, an arts intensive program in New Orleans, as well as serving as an instructor at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage School of Music. He also teaches the big band and flute curriculums at the Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp.
Vocalist Stephanie Jordan, whom critics have placed in the company of Diana Krall and Dianne Reeves, began to receive noted prominence following the national televised Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina. "On that memorable night; none sang with greater authority or emotional resonance than Stephanie Jordan (accompanied by Kent, Marlon, and Rachel), who enthralled the packed house and a national PBS NPR audience of millions with an ascendant reading of "Here's to Life." Bill Milkowski of JazzTimes Magazine writes "Stephanie Jordan, a standout here, was the real discovery of the evening. Her haunting rendition of this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a depth of understated soul that mesmerized the crowd...Singing with a clarity of diction that recalled Nat "King" Cole."
Jordan brought the concert to its climax with impeccable diction, dead-center pitch, and a personal point of view, acknowledging Horn's antecedent version while drawing independent conclusions about tempo, phrasing, and dynamics. In the process, Jordan... revealed a fully evolved tonal personality, one that can be mentioned in a conversation about such distinguished mentors and influences as Horn, Abbey Lincoln, and Nancy Wilson."
Stephanie's current show continues her signature trademark of singing jazz standards from the Big Band era. It includes highlights from her self-produced CD; "Stephanie Jordan Sings A Tribute to Lena Horne" which honors the legendary Grammy Award winner who starred in many films. She has performed on such stellar stages as the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the NBA All-Star Game, Chicago's Harris Theater, the Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland, "The Palace" Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, and the inaugural International Jazz Day which was celebrated by millions worldwide and live on NPR's Talk of the Nation. Audix microphones proclaimed her "Lady Jazz!"
A graduate of Howard University, Stephanie is also a certified fitness instructor and creator of Jazz Pilates. Jordan is Choir Director and Vocal Instructor at a local elementary school. (Note: The Stephanie Jordan Big Band will also perform on Sunday, April 27th)
Trumpeter Marlon Jordan was one of the "Young Jazz Lions" who were signed, recorded and promoted on major record labels. He recorded three impressive LPs for Columbia from 1998 to 1992, For You Only; named "one of the best debut albums of the year" by the Washington Post, Learson's Return, and The Undaunted, and one for the Arabesque label entitled Marlon's Mode in 1997. "The comparisons of Jordan's style to artists such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane put him in the upper echelon of jazz history. He has the resume and the style that would be hard, if not impossible, for anyone of his own generation to beat."
His last album, Marlon Jordan featuring Stephanie Jordan, You Don't Know What Love Is announced the return of an exceptional trumpeter. "This dancing and delicious document reveals a mature artist who sounds like himself. You can hear Jordan's clean, boppish lines laced with power, and an encyclopedic knowledge of the entire jazz trumpet tradition, signed in own unique sonic signature. The setting for this session finds its precedent in the immortal jazz albums, Clifford Brown with Strings, and Bird with Strings."
During his earlier days, Marlon had the day to day inspiration of Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, and many others to draw on. The young musicians often hung out at the Jordan household where they would practice music with Kent Jordan and take lessons from Kidd. "I started out playing saxophone, violin and drums," says Marlon, "but the trumpet was the instrument that stuck with me." Marlon recalls his father literally taking him on the bandstand "even before I really knew how to play. He'd introduce me to all the musicians, and they'd call me up on the stand. They'd say, 'Come on. That's Kidd's son. Let him play."
An accomplished classical musician as well, Marlon has performed solo with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra, but his true joy is his constant performance in the streets and nightclubs of New Orleans and Brazil. Marlon took his quintet on the road, joining Wynton Marsalis, Miles Davis and George Benson as a headlining act in a series of JVC Festivals produced by George Wein in Atlanta, Dallas and other cities. They also played in some of the country's top jazz clubs, including the Blue Note and the Ritz, highlighted by a run at the Village Vanguard.
Marlon graduated from the famed New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts.
Rounding out the Jordan clan is classical violinist Rachel Jordan who serves as the String Instructor for the Talented Music Program at Jefferson Parish Public School and is a member of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas. Rachel has served as adjunct faculty at Xavier University, Southern University, and Dillard University, Loyola University, and a Professor of Music at Jackson State University. She is also a former member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans. She received both her Bachelor of Music and her Master of Music from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland where she studied with Berl Senofsky.
Rachel has performed with her siblings for Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert, as well as numerous concerts throughout the United States. Ms. Jordan performs on and is the executive producer of the Marlon Jordan Featuring Stephanie Jordan CD titled "You Don't Know What Love Is." In addition, Ms. Jordan co-manages J Group Consulting, a family music management entity.
Rachel has been a featured performer in numerous solo recitals, most notable the Kennedy Center, the Mozart Festival in Salzburg, Austria, the Music Center of Houston, the Mozart Festival in Washington, D.C. While at Jackson State, Rachel performed, "The Lark Ascending" with Jackson State University Orchestra for the Congressional Black Caucus Inaugural Ceremony of President Barack Obama.
While at Dillard University, Rachel started the Jesse Dent Recital series, which features African American Musicians performing classical music. She also produces the annual "An Afternoon of Classical Music" chamber music series. She is also the founding director and artistic director of the "Music Alive Ensemble", a classical and jazz ensemble of musicians, composers, and arrangers.
Stephanie adds, it is always an honor to perform with the entire family, and in this instance, it is such an auspicious occasion being that it's for the 50th Anniversary of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. My family has done our best to help keep this art form alive and we are honored to have been selected to perform.
Producers of the 50th anniversary Jazz Fest have decided to mark the milestone event with something special: the addition of another day of the signature festival celebrating New Orleans music and culture. Thursday, April 25 will now be the opening day of the 2019 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. Both of the event's weekends will run Thursday through Sunday, April 25 - 28 and May 2 - 5.
The Festival also announced that the new day will be "Locals Thursday," which allows anyone with a valid Louisiana ID to purchase up to two discount tickets at the gate on that day. "Locals Thursday" discount tickets will again be only $50.
Shell is the Presenting Sponsor of the Festival. Major Jazz Fest Sponsors are Acura, Miller Lite, and the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots (A Churchill Downs Company). IBERIABANK, Peoples Health, New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, Coca-Cola and WWOZ are all also Official Jazz Fest Sponsors.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. The Foundation uses the proceeds from Jazz Fest, and other raised funds, for year-round activities in the areas of education, economic development and cultural enrichment.
More Information: http://www.nojazzfest.com/lineup/#/lineup_groupings/friday-april-26 - Jazz Corner
Sunday, April 28 on the WWOZ Jazz Tent Stage
NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell today announced that the Stephanie Jordan Big Band will appear on Sunday, April 28, 2019 @ 5:30 PM in the WWOZ Jazz Tent as part of the musical lineup for the 50th Anniversary of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival by Shell. The two week festival runs from Thursday through Sunday, April 25 - 28 and May 2 - 5, 2019.
Dubbed "Lady Jazz!" by Audix Microphones, Stephanie Jordan is consistently praised for her poise, elegance and soulful articulation. She draws frequent comparisons to her inspirations, the legendary jazz singers Shirley Horn, Abbey Lincoln, Lena Horne and Carmen McRae. Critics have also likened Ms. Jordan to jazz stars Diana Krall and Nancy Wilson.
Stephanie Jordan's current show continues her trademark of singing jazz standards from the Big Band era, including highlights from the "Stephanie Jordan Sings a Tribute to Lena Horne" CD which honors the legendary Grammy Award winner and film star.
Jordan has performed in the presence of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama; sang to Stevie Wonder in honor of his birthday; been featured at the private celebration of 'Oprah Winfrey and Friends of Susan Taylor,' and she sang the National Anthem for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game.
As a late minute replacement for Grammy Award-winning singer Ledisi at Chicago's Harris Theater, Chicago Tribune's leading art critic Howard Reich to proclaimed, "The woman can sing ... bringing heft to music of the Gershwins and Cole Porter without pushing volume levels. Clearly she values plush sound and knows how to produce it." Music critic James Walker added, "Stephanie Jordan . . . stepped in and simply mesmerized the near capacity Harris Theater crowd with a sparkling performance."
Jordan has performed on such stellar stages as the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the NBA All-Star Game, Chicago's Harris Theater, the Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland, "The Palace" Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey and others. Jordan served as US Jazz Ambassadors' on a European Tour to Bucharest, Germany, Lithuania and Ukraine on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Jordan appears in Lee Daniels' production of "The Paperboy" singing a featured tune; the movie co-stars Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, and John Cusack among others. Jordan also recorded a tune for the 2013 remake of the film "Heat" which stars Jason Statham and Sofia Vergara. Stephanie Jordan also performed the soundtrack "Season's Start" in the Tribecca Film release of Café Society staring Lara Flynn Boyle and Peter Gallagher.
Stephanie's silky vocals are also featured on Marlon Jordan's "You Don't Know What Love Is" album and Kent Jordan's "Out of This World" CD. The "Christmas with the New Orleans Ladies of Jazz" CD produced by sister Rachel Jordan features New Orleans' renowned jazz divas; Germaine Bazzle, Leah Chase, and Stephanie Jordan with the Music Alive Ensemble.
Recognized internationally, the Sud Ouest French publication calls her "unbelievably superb." The Washingtonian Magazine labeled her "JAZZHOT
Stephanie is a member of New Orleans' renowned Jordan Family of Jazz whose father is Kidd Jordan; and siblings include musicians Kent, Marlon and Rachel Jordan.
Headline acts for 2019 includes The Rolling Stones, Earth Wind & Fire, Trombone Shorty, Katy Perry, Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Herbie Hancock, Ellis Marsalis Family Tribute featuring Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo, and Jason with Ellis Marsalis, Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly and others. Some local favorites includes the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Russell Batiste & Friends, Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective, Detroit Brooks, PJ Morgan, Davell Crawford, John Boutté, Topsy Chapman & Solid Harmony, Tonya Boyd-Cannon, Kermit Ruffins & The Barbecue Swingers, Batiste Brothers, Donald Harrison, Tank and The Bangas, OperaCreole, Dr. Michael White, a Tribute to Alvin Batiste with Herman Jackson and Friends, Paulin Brothers Brass Band, and more than 500 additional artists are scheduled to appear at the Festival.
The Festival also announced that the new day will be "Locals Thursday," which allows anyone with a valid Louisiana ID to purchase up to two discount tickets at the gate on that day. "Locals Thursday" discount tickets will again be only $50.
Advance tickets are available at www.nojazzfest.com and www.ticketmaster.com, at all Ticketmaster outlets or by calling (800) 745-3000. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, January 18 at 10am. Advanced tickets for Jazz Fest are $70 through February 1 when the price will become $75. Tickets purchased at the gate will be $85. Regularly priced, single-day tickets to Jazz Fest are on sale by specific weekend, with each ticket valid for a single day's attendance (For May 2, different pricing applies).
Shell is the Presenting Sponsor of the Festival. Major Jazz Fest Sponsors are Acura, Miller Lite, and the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots (A Churchill Downs Company). IBERIABANK, Peoples Health, New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, Coca-Cola and WWOZ are all also Official Jazz Fest Sponsors.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. The Foundation uses the proceeds from Jazz Fest, and other raised funds, for year-round activities in the areas of education, economic development and cultural enrichment.
To learn more about Stephanie, please visit her website at www.StephanieJordan.com. - Sylvain Music Notes
New Orleans jazz vocalist Stephanie Jordan is honored to have been requested by Mayor Mitch Landrieu to sing a big band with strings version of the classic tune "Home" from the Broadway musical "The Wiz" during Saturday's August 29th Katrina 10 Commemoration: The Power of Community at the Smoothie King Center.
President Bill Clinton, New Orleans residents, faith leaders, and advocates who over the last ten years helped the City recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, will take part in the public commemoration and celebration of the city's resilience. Hosted by award-winning journalist Soledad O'Brien, this major event will be held on the official anniversary of Katrina's landfall, at the Smoothie King Center. In addition to the Stephanie Jordan Big Band, musical and cultural performance will include Multi-Grammy nominated R&B and jazz recording artist Ledisi; Grammy winners Rebirth Brass Band; John Boutte; Tonya Boyd Cannon, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux; Warren Easton Charter High School Marching Band and Dumpstaphunk.
Jordan said that she struggled with the idea of including "Home" on her "Stephanie Jordan Sings a Tribute to Lena Horne" album. "However that tune was still too emotional for me to perform so I chose to only include "Believe in Yourself" and allowed that tune to carry me through my rebuilding efforts.
"During my days of wandering through the streets of my temporary home in Silver Spring, Maryland following hurricane Katrina, I would constantly sing both songs to myself. Vividly recalling how Glinda, the Good Witch of the South (Lena Horne), would sing to Dorothy (Diana Ross); "Believe that you can go home..." and Dorothy closing with the classic "Home."
How fitting is it that ten years later I finally have to strength to publicly sing "Home" and it is an added honor to do so at the request of our mayor."
Accompanied by Emmy-award winning arranger Mike Esneault on piano, the Stephanie Jordan Big Band will include members Marlon Jordan and Bobby Campo on trumpet, Clarence Johnson and Trevarri Huff-Boone on sax, BJ McGibney on trombone, Chris Severin on bass, Charlie Denard on keyboard, drummer Miles Labat, and Rachel Jordan, Amy Thiaville, and Danielle Ryce on violins; Jordan hopes to convey the spirit and steadfast faith of the people of New Orleans through her music.
Katrina 10 Commemoration: The Power of Community is open to all city residents, but seating is limited. Tickets are free and will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis via email through Ticketmaster or via in-person pick up at City libraries and community-based organizations. Volunteers from the Katrina 10: City-Wide Day of Service will automatically receive tickets and access to exclusive seating. Tickets for the event via Ticketmaster can be accessed through the Katrina10.org website and volunteers can sign up for events with the Day of Service here.
Stephanie Jordan, whom critics have placed in the company of Diana Krall and Dianne Reeves, began to receive noted prominence following the national televised Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina. "On that memorable night; none sang with greater authority or emotional resonance than Stephanie Jordan, who enthralled the packed house and a national PBS NPR audience of millions with an ascendant reading of "Here's To Life."
Bill Milkowski of JazzTimes magazine continues, "Stephanie Jordan, a standout here, was the real discovery of the evening. Her haunting rendition of this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a depth of understated soul that mesmerized the crowd and registered to the back rows. Singing with a clarity of diction that recalled Nat "King" Cole . . ."
Jazz critic Ted Panken proclaims, "a voice that projects from a whisper to a scream, impeccable diction, dead-center pitch, fluid phrasing.... she finds fresh, unfailingly swinging approaches to this well-traveled repertoire, melding into a personal argot elements garnered from such distinguished mentors as Shirley Horn, Abbey Lincoln, Nancy Wilson-and Lena Horne herself-while sounding like no one other than Stephanie Jordan... Jordan's sodium pentothal treatment-the truth WILL be told-is evocative of the magical phrasing of Shirley Horn."
Recognized internationally, the Sud Ouest French publication calls her "unbelievably superb." The Washingtonian Magazine labeled her "JAZZHOT." Audix Microphones has dubbed her "Lady Jazz!"
Jordan has appeared live on NPR's Talk of the Nation and performed on stellar stages such as the inaugural International Jazz Day at Congo Square presented by UNESCO, the Kennedy Center, Jazz Standard, Club Dizzy's, Chicago's Harris Theater, Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland, The Palace" Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, St. Croix Blue Bay Jazz Fest, The Setai - South Beach Miami, Manship Theatre, Takoma Station, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Duke Ellington Festival, Chicago JazzFest Heritage, Glenwood Springs, Co., Adagio's Jazz Club, Hayti Heritage Center, Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club, and is a regular at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Jordan served as US Jazz Ambassadors' on a European Tour to Bucharest, Germany, Lithuania and Ukraine on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Jordan has been inducted as a member of the New Orleans Magazine's Jazz All-Stars.
Stephanie Jordan performed as the featured singer during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Gala which included the presence of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama; a reception in honor of Vice President Joe Biden, she was selected to sing to Stevie Wonder during the National Urban League's national conference, and also performed at the private celebration 'Oprah Winfrey and Friends of Susan Taylor' in honor of Susan's years of service to Essence magazine.
Stephanie has shared billings with Norman Connors, NaJee, Roy Ayres, Wes Anderson, and Howard Hewitt. She has been featured performer with the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra, Chesapeake Orchestra, Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra among others.
Jordan is the fifth performer to emerge from a family of New Orleans bred musicians. As the daughter of saxophonist Sir Edward "Kidd" Jordan, Stephanie's musical roots run deep. Her siblings include flutist Kent, trumpeter Marlon, and classical violinist Rachel Jordan. A graduate of Howard University, Stephanie is also a certified fitness instructor and creator of the exercise technique known as Jazz Pilates. - Sylvain Music Notes
By Kim Lyle
For this season’s third installment of the Art Council’s Jazz Listening Room Series at the Hartley/Vey Theatre, Stephanie Jordan performed for a crowd that sold out weeks in advance. Her voice – sultry, dynamic and powerful – stretched to the furthest edges of the intimate venue to embrace the audience. Each note was packed with a wisdom and sophistication rare in current times, seeping into the ears and gradually the hearts of all who were lucky enough to listen.
The New Orleans born and bred singer comes from a family of musicians whose roots run deep in the jazz world. It comes as no surprise Jordan has been able to foster such a loyal fan following. With previous performances at the prestigious Kennedy Center and a memorable appearance at the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Concert, Baton Rouge was grateful to have her. Regardless of her impressive resume, she remained humble in the presence of such accolades.
“I’m just one of those singers in the dark,” she said near the beginning of the concert.
However, it is clear that not just any singer in the dark could execute such acrobatic flights of song. One of the first songs of the night was Jordan’s interpretation of a classic, “The Folks Who Live on the Hill.” As a nod to her talented family she noted, “my mother placed it in my repertoire, it was her favorite.” A lyrically straightforward song was breathed to life with the raw emotion her voice infused into each syllable.
Throughout the set, Jordan and the talented jazz quartet consistently delivered moments of pure magic, not just art. It was clear that everybody onstage was in love with what they do.
“I had as much fun during the mic check as I’m having right now,” said Jordan.
That pure joy was contagious as the floor echoed with the sounds of a giddy audience tapping in time the band’s beat. A crowd favorite, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” was received with one of many standing ovations. Performed with a fresh twist, Jordan made sure to pay tribute to the song’s origins.
“I learned this song from listening to Dinah Washington as a kid. I only listened to the great singers and Dinah was great,” Jordan said.
For the second half of the performance, Jordan floated onto the stage donning a classy red dress in honor of Valentine’s Day. She finished the night with stunning renditions of “Alfie” and her title song, “Yesterday When I Was Young”. At one point, an admiring fan presented her with red roses and a framed painting. Having first heard her music over a year ago, he expressed his long-standing admiration for her grace and beauty, proving the influence of Jordan’s art to be far reaching.
Equally captivating were Jordan’s insightful interludes, offering an emotionally articulate window into her everyday life and inspirations. In her last words of the night, she revealed a more vulnerable side, offering thoughts that have crossed the mind of any dedicated artist no matter the medium.
“Jazz is a strange music, you never really know if this music is still what people need,” said Jordan. “You watch the Grammy’s and it’s Lady Gaga singing jazz. Now, I believe artists have the freedom to sing whatever they choose. But, I don’t pretend to sing jazz. I just really love it. Even so, I still sometimes wonder if it’s valid? Does it mean anything?”
A warm applause from the crowd reassured the devoted artist that jazz music does indeed still have a place in this world, one that is desperately needed.
If you were not able to listen to Jordan this time around, you can watch her free performance on Feb. 26th at the Baton Rouge Community College where she will be supported by the sounds of a big band. The next installment of the Jazz Listening Room Series will be on May 14 at the Hartley/Vey Theater, with a performance by saxophonist Brad Walker. - DIG BR
President Obama will be the keynote speaker during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's (CBCF) 43rd Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner in D.C. Reps. Donna Edwards of Maryland and Cedric L. Richmond of Louisiana serve as honorary co-chairs.
The dinner, scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sept. 21 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, is the signature event of a four-day conference focusing on public policy impacting black communities in America and abroad.
"It is an honor and privilege to have alumni CBC member President Barack Obama address this year's Phoenix Awards Dinner," said Pennsylvania Rep. Chaka Fattah, the chair of the CBCF board. "[His] presence, together with our recognition of President Clinton for his global advocacy work, will make this a historic evening for CBCF."
Coming on the heels of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, the ceremony will pay tribute to the "Spirit of 1963" and the advances that the march led to in American life, from voting rights and school desegregation to Obama's historic election to the presidency in 2008.
"President Obama's decision to keynote the dinner underscores the importance of our mission to expand opportunities in health, education, and economic recovery for black people around the world," said A. Shuanise Washington, CBCF president and chief executive officer. "This year is especially important given that we are celebrating the historic advances our country has made since the 1963 March on Washington."
The dinner will honor the achievements of former President Bill Clinton, Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings and Elaine Jones, former president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The honorees will receive the Phoenix Award for their contribution to African-American political awareness and empowerment, as well as to the advancement of minorities in the electoral process.
MSNBC television host Tamron Hall and actor Wendell Pierce, who is best known for his work in HBO dramas, will serve as the emcees. The awards gala will also feature jazz chanteuse Stephanie Jordan.
Stephanie Jordan who performed at the ALC following hurricane Katrina said, "I am honored to be invited back to perform for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference much heralded Phoenix Awards Dinner fundraiser. For it was entertainers such as Lena Horne, Mahalia Jackson, Harry Belafonte, Sam Cooke and other early supporters of the Civil Rights movement from the entertainment industry who understood that "It Starts With You" to be their call to affect change. It is their steadfast approach in the quest for equality which inspires me as we move forward into the next 50 years."
Jordan recalls that "Lena Horne was very involved in the movement and 1963 March on Washington and spoke alongside Medgar Evers shortly before his murder in Mississippi; Mahalia Jackson has be credited with encouraging Dr. Mr. Luther King to improvise on his famous "I have a dream" speech by crying out "Tell them about dream, Martin!" during his address; Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" became a rallying call for the Civil Rights Movement; and Harry Belafonte's role as a social activist is well documented and continues today. As performers it is imperative that we recognize our role and responsibility to help shape society and affect public policy."
Jordan will be accompanied by her brother trumpeter Marlon Jordan, and the Clarence Knight Orchestra. As honorary co-chair of the conference, Congressman Richmond was instrumental in the planning of the daily events during the conference, thus ensuring a strong New Orleans presence.
First Lady Michelle Obama will also be in the audience. This performance continue Jordan's history of performing before high profile audience members; she has had the honor of singing for Vice President Joe Biden as well as being selected by the National Urban League to sing to Stevie Wonder during NUL's 2012 National Conference. Jordan also performed at the private celebration 'Oprah Winfrey and Friends of Susan Taylor' at New York City's ESPACE in honor of Susan Taylor's 37 years of service to Essence magazine.
"In keeping with the spirit of the march, this year's theme - 'It Starts With You' - reflects the Foundation's goal of inspiring individuals to become agents of change in their communities," Washington said.
Note: The Washington Informer contributed to this story.
- New Orleans Agenda
NEW ORLEANS – Internationally acclaimed New Orleans’ jazz vocalist Stephanie Jordan will be accompanied by pianist Ellis Marsalis in a special rendition of one of Stevie Wonder’s tunes as the National Urban League pays tribute to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Bernette Johnson; and music legend Stevie Wonder during the 2012 National Urban League Conference’s Whitney M. Young, Jr. Awards Masquerade Gala with Lifetime Achievement Awards.
“Stevie Wonder is an artist and humanitarian. I remember learning how to hand dance to “My Cherie Amour”. On Saturday, I will be “Dancing to the Rhythm” of Stevie's tremendous spirit. I am living another dream to sing for a man whose talent and generosity is an example for all artists to emulate” said Stephanie Jordan.
While Jordan has performed on stages such as the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the NBA All-Star Game, Chicago’s Harris Theater, the Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland and even the “Big Screen,” Jordan adds “singing to Stevie Wonder will be a special honor. A few years back Stevie Wonder and I appeared on the front page of our local newspaper on the same day, but now this is beyond belief.”
Hosted by FOX New Anchor Arthel Neville, the Gala takes place on Saturday, July 28 from 7:00 – 10:00 PM at the Morial Convention Center and is the culminating activity for a week of events.
Jordan and Marsalis performed together this past April 30 at the first annual International Jazz Day from New Orleans' Congo Square at Louis Armstrong Park. Celebrated by millions worldwide, the all-star sunrise concert led by UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock was broadcast live on CBS Morning News, and video streamed live at Jazz Day and Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Jordan served as a replacement for Grammy Award-winner Dianne Reeves.
Marsalis is regarded by many as the premier modern jazz pianist in New Orleans. In 2011, Marsalis and his family; sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason Marsalis were awarded the highest honor in Jazz, NEA Jazz Masters, the first group award ever distributed by the National Endowment for the Arts. Marsalis continues to be active as a performing pianist leading, and occasionally touring, his own quartet. He has several recordings on the CBS-SONY label and currently releases recordings on his own recording label, ELM RECORDS, developed with his wife Dolores and son Jason.
Jordan, whom critics have placed in the company of Nancy Wilson and Diana Krall, began to receive noted prominence following the national televised Jazz at Lincoln Center concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina. She recently released a self-produced debut CD on her Vige Music label; the “Stephanie Jordan Sings a Tribute to the Fabulous Lena Horne; Yesterday When I Was Young” album honors the legendary Grammy Award winner who starred in many films and whose one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music (1981), was hailed as her masterpiece.
No stranger to being requested to perform special dedications, Jordan was invited to sing at the private celebration ‘Oprah Winfrey and Friends of Susan Taylor’ in honor of Susan Taylor's 37 years of service to Essence magazine. Jordan sang Susan’s favorite jazz tune; Here’s to Life by Shirley Horn.
Jordan’s capacity-filled concert with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble at the Harris Theater where she served as a late minute replacement for Grammy Award-winning singer Ledisi led Chicago Tribune’s leading art critic Howard Reich to proclaim, “The woman can sing and indisputably knows how to reach out across the footlights . . . Jordan showed ample voice, bringing heft to music of the Gershwins and Cole Porter without pushing volume levels. Clearly she values plush sound and knows how to produce it.”
Jordan is the fifth performer to emerge from a family of New Orleans bred musicians. As the daughter of saxophonist Sir Edward "Kidd" Jordan, Stephanie's musical roots run deep. Her siblings include flutist Kent, trumpeter Marlon, and classical violinist Rachel Jordan.
For three and a half days the Urban League presented “Occupy the Vote: Employment & Education Empower the Nation,” the clarion call for all conference participants to be informed and deeply engaged in various elements of economic empowerment. The conference presented unique opportunities for attendees to experience the invaluable perspectives of business, political, and community leaders working towards the achievement of true and lasting prosperity. - Sylvain Music Notes
Stephanie Jordan Big Band
Stephanie Jordan: Sings a Tribute to the Fabulous Lena Horne
Vige Music
What a voice! Big band jazz vocalist Stephanie Jordan has a voice that is as pleasing to the soul as it is thrilling. Jordan pours out a pure and strong sound that stands amongst some of the best females in jazz.
On her debut, she uses her skills to belt out classics such as “The Lady is a Tramp” while mixing them with soft, inspirational tunes like, “Believe in Yourself, “ creating a standout album.
Her opera-like vocal strength, blended with the warm temperaments of jazz, creates such a fantastically soothing sound. Tribute to the Fabulous Lena Horne demonstrates Jordan’s ability to belt out some of the best jazz tunes trailed by the classic sounds of a big band. But don’t worry; Stephanie holds her ground amongst the instruments from the soft piano to the brass horns.
Jordan’s remarkable vocal timing and tremendous pipes will put a smile on your face from the very first listen.—Kimmie Tubré
- Kimmie Tubré, WHERE Y'AT Magazine
The greatest compliment, jazz great Abbey Lincoln once told Stephanie Jordan, is for another vocalist to sing your songs. By that measure, Jordan has paid the highest possible tribute to Lena Horne.
Jordan, the daughter of local jazz saxophonist and educator Edward “Kidd” Jordan, devoted her first solo album to material either recorded or performed by Horne. “Stephanie Jordan Sings a Tribute to the Fabulous Lena Horne: Yesterday When I Was Young,” released independently this spring, finds Jordan applying her sumptuous, elegant voice to the likes of “The Lady is a Tramp,” “Just One of Those Things,” “Stormy Weather” and even “Believe in Yourself,” which Horne performed as Glinda the Good Witch in “The Wiz.”
Jordan will showcase selections from the songbooks of Horne, Lincoln, Thelonious Monk and others on Saturday during her first-ever featured set at Snug Harbor. She’ll be backed by pianist and arranger Mike Esneault, her brother Marlon Jordan on trumpet, trombonist Steve Suter of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Bonerama, drummer Joe Dyson, and bassist Nori Naraoka.
She considers her official Snug Harbor debut to be a career milestone akin to singing the national anthem at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game and gigs at the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Jazz Standard in New York. Her only previous appearance at Snug Harbor was as a special guest of the late clarinetist and educator Alvin Batiste, her uncle. “That’s when I felt like I was big-time,” she said. “So this show is real special to me.”
Jordan was still in high school when she attended a 1983 Horne concert at the Saenger Theater.
“I’ve never forgotten that show. I’d seen a lot of singers; my dad would always get us tickets to all these big-time singers. But until I saw that show, I had no clue what jazz singing was really all about. After I saw Lena, I had an idea about what I would like to do onstage.”
From that point forward, Jordan strove to adapt qualities that Horne, who died in 2010, projected.
“Lena was very definite. There’s nothing tentative about her presentation. She knew what she wanted to sing. She was decidedly herself. And her sound was so powerful. She didn’t do the damsel-in-distress character, the weepy, crying jazz singer. She came out there like gangbusters. Just, ‘I’m here. I’m alive. I’m living every moment to the fullest. I know who I am.’
“But at the same time, she could do a quiet ballad, and do it with the same type of sincerity that she did the big numbers with the band screaming behind her.”
Jordan came away from that Saenger concert feeling empowered. That the empowerment was elegantly attired made it all the more appealing.
“I’m a diva,” Jordan confirmed, laughing. “No doubt. I love all the glitz and glamour. Lena Horne wore the most glamorous clothes in the world. Her look, I do emulate a lot.”
While seeking material for “Yesterday When I Was Young,” Jordan revisited scores of Horne recordings, including duets with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.
“I have a love for great male singers. As I started choosing material, and thought about the male singers that influenced Lena, I started thinking about the record in a different way.”
For example, Horne performed, but never recorded, “The Good Life.” Jordan selected it for her album because of classic versions by Sinatra and Tony Bennett, vocalists that Horne admired.
“This is a tribute record. I thought about it from both perspectives: songs that Lena sang, and songs that I thought she would like to hear.”
When Jordan screened the finished project for Kidd Jordan, he suggested that she had enough material for two albums. She saw it differently.
“I said, ‘Dad, it’s a full thought. I cannot divide this record.’ When you line it all up, it tells a story. Once I cover something, I probably won’t come back to that. I won’t be doing another Lena Horne tribute record. So I wanted it to be complete.”
Jordan’s next album likely will be a collection of songs written by female singers, including herself. Meanwhile, she hopes “Yesterday When I Was Young” introduces new fans to one of the greatest singers of all time.
“This project is not just about me doing a Lena Horne tribute and selling some records. I really want the legacy of Lena Horne to remain current and out front. I want other singers, first, to know her, because they need to know her.
“And I want the general public to remember her. What she gave to this world was significant, and it should be remembered.”
- Keith Spera, Times-Picayune
NEW ORLEANS (Sylvain Music Notes) September 4, 2009 - In continuation of his tradition of highlighting great singers, Jazz/R&B legend Norman Connors will feature New Orleans’ jazz vocalist Stephanie Jordan in concert during the celebration of Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club 10th Anniversary on Friday, September 4 and Saturday, September 5, 2009 for two shows each night at 9:00 pm and 11:00 pm. For individual ticket information and reservation, please visit www.SweetLorrainesJazz.com or call (504) 945-9654.
Having created virtually single-handedly the "Quiet Storm" genre with such classic soulful-yet-jazzy hits as "You Are My Starship," "Betcha By Golly Wow," "Valentine Love," "Love from the Sun" and more, Norman Connors has front some great recordings with vocal stars such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Phyllis Hyman, Angela Bofill, Jean Carne, Michael Henderson and others. His latest CD, Star Power is a beautiful new Norman Connors album in the vein of his greatest masterpieces, with an all-star lineup of guest vocalists and musicians (featuring Howard Hewett, Bobby Lyle, Ray Parker, Jr, Peabo Bryson, Michael Henderson, and Antoinette) delivering stunning originals and well-known classics including a brand new version of "You Are My Starship."
Connors is best known for his major R & B records; however his roots are steeped in jazz music. Raised in the same Philadelphia neighborhood as Bill Cosby, Connors was exposed to jazz extensively. As a child drummer, he once sat in for Elvin Jones at a John Coltrane performance he attended while in middle school. Connors went on to study music at Philly's Temple University and the Juilliard School of Music in New York. An accomplished drummer, composer, arranger, producer, and headliner, Norman Connors has collaborated with other greats such as Herbie Hancock, Archie Shepp, Pharaoh Sanders, Carlos Garnett, Stanley Clarke and Gary Bartz.
Stephanie Jordan will join Norman Connors onstage as she performs some of the female lead from his long list of love classics. Jordan’s vocal style has been described as having "impeccable diction, dead-center pitch, and a personal point of view . . . while drawing independent conclusions about tempo, phrasing, and dynamics."
The Stephanie Jordan Big Band will open the night as she continues her signature trademark of singing jazz standards. In addition to arranger Mike Esneault on piano, Stephanie will feature members of her musical family, including Rachel Jordan on violin, Marlon Jordan on trumpet, and Kent Jordan on flute.
Jordan, whom critics have placed in the company of Nancy Wilson and Diana Krall, began to receive national recognition following her stunning performance during the nationally televised Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center. JazzTimes Magazine states "Stephanie Jordan, a standout here, was the real discovery of the evening. Her haunting rendition of (Here's to Life) this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a depth of understated soul that mesmerized the crowd and registered to the back rows. Singing with clarity of diction that recalled Nat "King" Cole . . ."
As a part of the celebration, Sweet Lorraine’s will also host the Sweet Lorraine’s Community Jazz Festival; a free day-long music extravaganza on Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September 6, 2009, culminating with the tradition Black Men of Labor Second Line Parade which begins at 3:00 pm on that Sunday. The Community Festival celebrates more than sixty years of combined service in the entertainment business by Paul Sylvestre, Jr. and his late parents, Paul & Lorraine Sylvestre.
The outdoor extravaganza will be held in the immediate vicinity of the club (bordered by Saint Claude Avenue, Touro St, and Pauger St.). The Community Jazz Festival showcases and honors New Orleans music and musicians. Those stalwarts who are on the front lines in keeping the spirit of the music, first and foremost, in the hearts and minds of the world’s Jazz lovers! The line-up includes, recognizably, Kermit Ruffins, Charmaine Neville, and the Treme Brass Band, just to name a few.
Sweet Lorraine's is located adjacent to the French Quarter at 1931 St. Claude Avenue. It has been featured in Essence and Travel & Leisure Magazine, while USA Today rates Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club as one of the Top 10 Jazz Clubs in the country. - Jazz Review
From the moment she stepped on the stage at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, Stephanie Jordan lit up the the Jazz Tent. Wearing a pale peach confection of a dress and a big smile, she opened with a medley of "On a Clear Day," "I'm Beginning To See the Light," and "Come Fly with Me," backed by her Big Band.
Marlon Jordan, introduced by the consummate New Orleans jazz singer as "my baby brother," joined her on"Come Fly With Me."
"It feels good to be here, not at my day job," she told the audience after the applause died down.
Jordan's performance featured songs from her debut CD, a tribute to Lena Horne. It included guest appearances by Marlon, her "big brother" Kent, and her sister Rachel. The Jordans are one of New Orleans prominent musical families, headed by Edward "Kidd" Jordan, the avant garde jazz musician and dedicated teacher of young jazz musicians.
Jordan followed up her opening number with"Love," a song with a tropical beat. Her brother Kent added the perfect touch with his piccolo solo. She explained that she added the song on her CD after a fan e-emailed her and suggested it.
She talked just enough between songs to stay connected to the audience. "This was one of Lena Horne's greatest hits, and when I saw her perform it at the Saenger Theatre, I just loved it," she said, before performing a rousing version of "From This Moment On."
She explained why the Jazz Tent was so special to her: "This is the first big stage I ever had the chance to sing on," she said.
Jordan did all the jazz classics proud, including "Just One of Those Things" and "The Lady is a Tramp."
When she sang "Watch What Happens," she told us we could hear her dad on that song if we listened to her CD.
"Thank you, Daddy," she said. "He's my second biggest fan. My mom is my biggest fan."
It was her mom who chose the name for Jordan's CD: "Stepanie Jordan Sings a Tribute to the Fabulous Lena Horne: Yesterday When I Was Young."
"That's my mama's favorite song," Jordan said.
It was mine, too. It was beautiful, sad, and unforgettable.
But the highlight of the hour for me was her rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," with her sister Rachel accompanying her on the violin.
She told us she sang to herself when she was in exile in Maryland after Hurricane Katrina.
"This is the first time I've ever sung this song in public," she said.
It was like hearing it for the first time. The audience gave her a standing ovation.
Jordan and her classy Big Band ended the show with a rousing rendition of"The Good Life," and the hourlong concert was over much too soon.
- Sheila Stroup, The Times-Picayune
(12/3/08) - Susan L. Taylor, former editor-in-chief of Essence was honored Tuesday night in a private celebration; Oprah Winfrey and Friends of Susan Taylor at New York City's ESPACE for her 37 years of service to the magazine which targets African-American women. The event featured a performance by New Orleans’ jazz vocalist Stephanie Jordan. Invited specifically to sing Susan’s favorite jazz tune “Here’s to Life,” Jordan has turned the tune most identified with her mentor Shirley Horn into her signature song. As one critic pointed out, Jordan killed it on the mic.”
Jordan first rose to national prominence following the national televised Jazz at the Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina. She followed that up with rendition of the national anthem during the 2008 NBA All-Star Game that has been called “the most smoldering rendition of the song since Marvin Gaye performed it at another NBA All-Star Game more than 20 years ago...”
The night also served as a benefit for the National CARES Mentoring Movement that is dedicated to pairing vulnerable African-American children with a caring mentor. National CARES, which was founded by Taylor as Essence CARES, currently operates in more than 50 U.S. states.
“Winfrey, who originally made a $500,000 commitment to the cause was so moved by the spirit of the evening that she doubled her donation-a total of $1 million-to undergird the mission.”
Karu F. Daniels of BlackVoices.com adds, “Taylor … was elated with the grand contribution.”What a blessing Oprah's generosity is to the healing of so many young lives," she said. "Her extraordinary gift of love took my breath away."
"With this kind of continued support, we will end the cycles of academic and social disengagement that are debilitating our communities and country," Taylor, said. "Mentoring is the answer. It is the best and most meaningful gift we can give this holiday season."
Originally founded by Taylor as "Essence Cares" in 2006 in response to Hurricane Katrina, the organization is a mentor-recruitment movement that works to fill the pipeline of youth-supporting organizations throughout the country with mentors. Its mission is to save a generation by putting a caring adult in the life of every at-risk child and those who have already fallen into peril.
Ruby Dee, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Congressman Charles B. Rangel, Common, Michael Eric Dyson, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Roland S. Martin, Maurice DuBois, Lola Ogunnaike, Kephra Burns, Kevin Powell, Dr. Adelaide Sanford, Terrie M. Williams, Michelle Miller, Donna Richardson, Tommy Dortch, Julianne Malveaux, Sade Baderinwa, Malik Yoba, Allallah Shabazz, Melanie Campbell, Vincent Sylvain and Rev. Al Sharpton, were among the guests who turned out. The event was co- hosted by comedian/actress Phyllis Yvonne Stickney. Gospel music superstars Yolanda Adams and Donnie McClurkin were the celebrity performers.
- Sylvain Music Notes
“I love a story,” Stephanie Jordan says. “As a matter of fact, if a song doesn’t communicate a real, true story, it’s hard for me to relate to it.”
Which is one reason why this daughter of the Crescent City decided to dedicate her first album to Lena Horne (1917-2010), the iconic diva-actress who enchanted several generations of mid-century Americans, black and white, with a singular admixture of talent, beauty, integrity, and class, not to mention a unique ability to convey the essence of a lyric. Great lyrics permeate this beautifully rendered homage, and Jordan has the skill sets to do them justice—a voice that projects from a whisper to a scream, impeccable diction, dead-center pitch, fluid phrasing. Backed by a breathe-as-one 8-piece unit of top-shelf New Orleanians that sounds twice its size, and counterstated by a cohort of virtuoso soloists, she finds fresh, unfailingly swinging approaches to this well-traveled repertoire, melding into a personal argot elements garnered from such distinguished mentors as Shirley Horn, Abbey Lincoln, Nancy Wilson—and Lena Horne herself—while sounding like no one other than Stephanie Jordan. As she aptly puts it, “it’s a tribute, not a copy.”
The program offers Jordan a magnificent platform on which to showcase her exuberant spirit and abundant talent, but also contains an autobiographical component. The back story starts in the spring of 1983, when Horne visited New Orleans for the third and final time, bringing her one-woman show to the Saenger Theater for several weeks. The contractor was Jordan’s father, Edward “Kidd” Jordan—best known as an outcat improviser who navigates the interstellar spaces of late period John Coltrane, but also a distinguished educator and first-call session musician. He procured tickets for his family.
“I have witnessed hundreds of performances, by a lot of big-name singers and that one never left me,” says Jordan, who at 18 was confining her singing to the house, where her audience also included six siblings, among them world-class improvisers Marlon (trumpet) and Kent (flute), as well as Rachel, a strong classical violinist. These effusions were bedrocked by close listenings to her father’s blues records and her mother’s comprehensive collection of jazz and pop singers, spanning, among others, Nat Cole, Nancy Wilson, Arthur Prysock, and Gladys Knight.
“That night was the first time I’d ever witnessed a true jazz singer with everything—the fame, the fortune, the beauty, the style, the wit, the charm, the big band.” Jordan continues. “After she did some subtle things where she talked about her life, she sang ‘From This Moment On,’ which blew me away. The whole theater was on edge. Then, when she sang ‘Yesterday When I Was Young,’ everyone jumped up and erupted. I had never witnessed one person on stage send an audience into a frenzy like that. It was like, ‘Oh! This is jazz singing, for real.’”
Jordan began to sing for real in 1992. Then a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland (she’d graduated from Howard University as a communications major), she celebrated her birthday with a visit to a local club where Kent Jordan was performing with pianist Doug Carn. Earlier that day her brother asked, “jokingly,” if she’d sing a song. Jordan agreed, but, once on-site, got cold feet. “My sister was with me, and she said, ‘I’m tired of you just thinking you sound good. I dare you to go up there and do it.’ I asked Doug for ‘I Remember April.’ He figured out a key, the band kicked off, and I almost fainted. My eyes were shut tight, my knees were locked back, like a little girl, and I started singing. When I finished, the audience said, ‘Yeah! She’s good, we like her.’ The club-owner; Bobby Boyd told Doug, ‘Give her a gig.’”
Thirteen years later, not long after Hurricane Katrina had destroyed her New Orleans home, Jordan, now the mother of a 9-year-old son, found herself back in Maryland, “walking down the street, crying, trying to get my life together.” Musical thoughts rose up, specifically Lena Horne’s early ‘60s recording of “Once In A Lifetime.”
“It was the last CD I listened to before I evacuated,” she recalls. “I remember the lyrics—‘Just once in a lifetime a man knows his moment, one wonderful moment when fate takes his hand’—and then it ends, ‘All I know is, once in my lifetime, I’m gonna do great things.’
“I couldn’t stop thinking about Lena. I remembered her singing to Dorothy in The Wiz, ‘Believe that you can go home; believe you can float on air.’ I’d cry, and sing that song to myself. Then I started remembering ‘Yesterday When I Was Young.’ That’s when I realized I needed to examine her music. In my moment of crisis and total pain, what came to my mind was, ‘believe that you can go home,’ and then ‘Yesterday when I was young, the taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue.’ I saw myself at 18, when I first saw Lena on the stage—life was beautiful. Now here I am in this nightmare, this Katrina hell. All I - Sylvain Music Notes
Story and Photos by James Walker, Jr., Copyright 2011
Paying homage to legendary singers Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald on the same show is a daunting objective to say the least. For the CJE, this task really became a challenge several weeks ago when scheduled featured Grammy nominated R&B vocalist Ledisi canceled her appearance, leaving Dana Hall and the CJE staff to scramble for a replacement.
Having seen Ledisi perform recently at Jazz venues, this listener was really looking forward seeing the New Orleans native front the renowned CJE for such an important concert. To the surprise of many, another 'Nawlins native was available and eagerly took advantage of the opportunity to come to the Windy City on very short notice.
Stephanie Jordan, lesser known member of the musical Jordan family from the Crescent City stepped in and simply mesmerized the near capacity Harris Theater crowd with a sparkling performance that surely put her in good stead with the astute Chicago audience. Stephanie's father, saxophonist Kidd Jordan was a frequent visitor to Chicago often performing with the late Fred Anderson at the now defunct Velvet Lounge, but Stephanie was an unknown.
That's no longer the case as she performed as if it was second nature. She was at ease from her opening medley of "On A Clear Day," "I'm Beginning To See The Light" and "Come Fly With Me." Her infectious smile and charisma was ever present and she had this crowd on the edge of their seat until she left the stage several hours later singing "From This Moment On."
Throughout the evening, CJE musicians were highlighted with extended solos, but Ms.Jordan was the "Star" of this show. This listener isn't sure how many rehearsals she had with the band, it appeared as if she was a regular member. They were all on point throughout and never appeared to miss a beat.
Jordan never attempted to imitate Sarah or Ella ( scatting wasn't even attempted), she just unleashed beautiful music in her own style without committing musical sacrilege with these timeless songs. With such a sparkling vocal instrument, why not just do what you do best.
CJE, based at Columbia College in downtown Chicago often showcases a student and on this occasion, trumpeter Sam Harris had the spotlight as he performed "Tenderly" with Ms. Jordan like a seasoned veteran. This young man was poised and made sweet music with Jordan. When not soloing, he complemented her with a nice soft touch in the background.
Other highlights of the evening was trumpeter Art Hoyle's solo on "Autumn in New York". This was a number arranged by former CJE's director William Russo for the Stan Kenton Band. Also, Dizzy Gillespie's "Night in Tunisia" with lyrics by Chaka Khan allowed pianist Jeremy Kahn and Pharez Whitted demonstrate their varied skills as Jordan worked the entire stage as if she was at home.
Although musical director /drummer Dana Hall never took an extended solo during this performance, his leadership was quite evident throughout and it appears that he has arrived as CJE's new leader and has this outstanding band headed in the right direction.
- JazzChicago
Call it grace under pressure.
Though the Chicago Jazz Ensemble has faced adversity in the past several months, the band showed plenty of fighting spirit Friday night at the Harris Theater.
Nothing less would have sufficed, considering the organization's recent history. Last year, the CJE lost its superb music director, Jon Faddis, whose contract was not renewed. Then the poplar R&B singer Ledisi – who had been announced as soloist for this concert – abruptly bowed out.
This left the CJE scrambling to find a vocalist who could carry a program celebrating two of the foremost vocalists in the history of jazz, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Surprisingly, the ensemble didn't enlist any of the accomplished singers based in Chicago. Intriguingly, the band booked Stephanie Jordan, who belongs to one of the most admired musical families in New Orleans but remains little-known here.
Until now. Acquitting herself handsomely, Jordan did her family name proud and brought plenty of high spirits her CJE debut . . . the woman can sing and indisputably knows how to reach out across the footlights.
In truth, Jordan's style owes more to Nancy Wilson than to either Vaughan or Fitzgerald. You could hear it in the way she stretched phrases and leaned on blue notes and in the silvery quality of her upper register. Neither Vaughan's plush tones nor Fitzgerald's hyper-virtuosic scat singing were referenced here.
But jazz honors individualists above all others, and Jordan, to her credit, made no attempts to impersonate anyone. The further she traveled into unconventional interpretations, the better she sounded.
The high point came in the most famous tune penned by George Shearing, who died last Monday and always will be remembered for the indelible, indestructible "Lullaby of Birdland." Jordan's version sounded like no one else's, the singer starting and ending phrases at unusual moments: in the middle of a bar, at the end of an offbeat, whenever.
Because most of this interpretation amounted to an extensive duet between Jordan and CJE music director/drummer Dana Hall, the singer had plenty of space in which to improvise – and made the most of it. At some points, the melodic contours and rhythmic syntax of the original were barely perceptible, Jordan inventing creative musical structures at every turn.
Drummer Hall displayed characteristic wit, responding dexterously to Jordan one moment, coyly playing against her the next.
Throughout the evening, Jordan showed ample voice, bringing heft to music of the Gershwins and Cole Porter without pushing volume levels. Clearly she values plush sound and knows how to produce it . . .
As for the CJE, some moments were more successful than others. In several instances, the band did not launch pieces well, as in its misplaced voicings in "Our Love is Here to Stay." In Chaka Khan's reworking of Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," the band virtually overwhelmed Jordan's vocals.
Generally, each piece improved significantly as it unfolded, suggesting that music director Hall needs to hold a firmer rein as bandleader – right from the opening downbeat.
hreich@tribune.com - Chicago Tribune / Howard Reich, Arts Critic
If you can be judged by the company you keep – or replace – local jazz singer Stephanie Jordan is operating at a very high level.
Acclaimed contemporary soul singer Ledisi was scheduled to sing with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble on Feb. 18 in a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. However, the four-time Grammy nominee, who was born in New Orleans but moved away as a child, dropped off the bill after joining a tour featuring KEM and El DeBarge.
So instead of performing with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance on the Columbia College Chicago campus on the 18th, Ledisi will be with KEM et al at the Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie outside Dallas, Tex. The next night, Feb. 19, she joins KEM and El DeBarge at the UNO Lakefront Arena.
With Ledisi suddenly unavailable, Jordan was invited to fill in. So she’ll sing the music of Fitzgerald and Vaughan – among the most cherished repertoires in jazz – in Chicago on Feb. 18.
Jordan is the daughter of local jazz educator and avant-jazz saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan. Her siblings include trumpeter Marlon, flutist Kent and violinist Rachel Jordan. In 2008, Stephanie wowed a national television audience when she teamed with saxophonist Branford Marsalis and guitarist Jonathan Dubose on a jazzy, re-imagined "Star-Spangled Banner" prior to the NBA Allstar Game at the New Orleans Arena.
- New Orleans Times-Picayune / Keith Spera, Music Critic
CHICAGO – The Chicago Jazz Ensemble with Music Director Dana Hall welcome guest vocalist Stephanie Jordan, replacing Ledisi, who, due to a scheduling conflict, has canceled her February 18 appearance. The previously announced musical program, An Evening of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, remains unchanged for this concert.
A member of New Orleans’ renowned Jordan Family of Jazz, Stephanie Jordan is consistently praised for her poise, elegance, and soulful articulation. She draws frequent comparisons to her mentor – the legendary jazz chanteuse Shirley Horn – as well as Abbey Lincoln, Nancy Wilson, and Carmen McRae. She has performed around the globe alongside Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Jonathan Dubose, Roy Ayres, Aaron and Arthur Neville, Cassandra Wilson, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, and Norah Jones. She has appeared at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s nationally televised Higher Ground Hurricane Relief benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and she has been featured live on NPR’s Talk of the Nation.
Ms. Jordan’s father, Jazz Patriarch Edward “Kidd” Jordan, is a saxophonist and music educator who taught the Marsalis Brothers in addition to members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. He has ties to Chicago through his numerous collaborations with the late saxophonist Fred Anderson, a seminal figure in the local jazz scene and founder of the Velvet Lounge. Her siblings include Marlon (trumpet), Kent (flute), and Rachel (violin) Jordan.
The Chicago Jazz Ensemble is: DANA HALL, Music Director and drums; DAN NICHOLSON and JARRARD HARRIS, alto saxophone; PAT MALLINGER and ROB DENTY (also clarinet), tenor saxophone; TIM McNAMARA, baritone saxophone; ANDY BAKER, TIM COFFMAN, TRACY KIRK, and THOMAS MATTA, trombone; MARK OLEN, LARRY BOWEN, ART HOYLE, and PHAREZ WHITTED, trumpet; JEREMY KAHN, piano; JEFF PARKER, guitar; DAN ANDERSON, bass; and BOBBI WILSYN, vocals.
Single tickets for this 7:30 p.m. concert at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, located at 205 East Randolph Drive on the northeast corner of Chicago's Millennium Park, are $15 - $45 with discounts available for groups. Student tickets are as low as $5. Tickets may be purchased at the Harris Box Office, by calling (312) 334-7777, or online at www.harristheaterchicago.org.
The CJE, in residence at Columbia College Chicago since 1965, is sponsored in part by Downbeat magazine, MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at Prince, Illinois Arts Council, The Chicago Community Trust, Polk Bros Foundation, Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, the Crown Family, The Robert Pritzker Family Foundation, and media sponsor WDCB 90.9 FM. For more information, visit http://www.chicagojazzensemble.com or call (312) 369-6250.
For more information on Columbia College Chicago, visit www.colum.edu.
- Chicago Jazz Ensemble
GLENWOOD SPRINGS. CO -- hen jazz vocalist Stephanie Jordan sings "The Good Life" tonight, she'll mean every word of the old Frank Sinatra tune.
Especially the lyrics about needing to "explore the unknown, like the heartache when you learn you must face them alone."
"Just driving in, beholding the mountains and the canyons, it renews your hope that life is so much bigger," said Stephanie, who survived the nation's costliest hurricane last fall. "Katrina was such a contrast."
Stephanie, whose lyrical style has been compared to Nora Jones and Dianne Krall, is one of four siblings in The Jordan Family. The seven-piece group plays the second Summer of Jazz show at 7 p.m. today at Two Rivers Park.
Like her musician brothers and sister, the petite vocalist is rebounding from Katrina's destruction.
"In our immediate family alone, seven dwellings were lost," Stephanie said. "I had eight feet of water in my house, and lost everything — pianos, sheet music, my entire wardrobe, a singer's wardrobe."
On the road again
For The Jordan Family, coming to Colorado — even just for a few days — helps them heal.
"Economic development for performers is important. We've lost many venues in New Orleans," Stephanie said. "Opportunities in New Orleans are really down. To be able to travel and perform is a blessing. It will release some thoughts. ... After Katrina, I'm beginning to write."
Trumpeter Marlon Jordan looks to his music for a sense of normalcy after nearly losing his life to the hurricane.
"We're trying to rebuild," said Marlon, the youngest New Orleans band leader to ever sign with a major record label. "Everybody is trying to get back to what we were doing before — our livelihood."
Marlon camped out on the roof of his New Orleans home for five days, waiting to be rescued.
"I had a two-story house and my whole bottom floor was flooded," the 35-year-old said. "I had to bust a hole through the top of the roof and stay out there during the day so they would see us. I built a cabana out of a shower curtain."
A long-line helicopter rescue mission pulled Marlon and his girlfriend from the roof. Not knowing the extent of his injuries, Marlon had two fractured ankles from swimming through flood waters and kicking mailboxes.
"It's something I never want to go through again," he said. "At that point, you just want to get out of there. You're hot, you're hungry and you're dehydrated."
Violinist Rachel Jordan is still recovering from Katrina's havoc. She lost two prized violins and several bows before suffering an accident on her way to see her damaged home.
"I dislocated my shoulder and broke my arm in four places. I'm in a certain amount of pain, and it's still not 100 percent," said Rachel, a professor of violin/viola at Jackson State University in Mississippi. "I played my first chamber music concert recently, and it felt better. They taped me up like a football player."
A violinist since age 7, Rachel has followed a musical path through life. She regrets that Katrina claimed many of her documented memories of her journey.
"I still can't find the tape where I played with the New Orleans Symphony for the first time," she said. "I lost a lifetime of music — I need to start collecting concertos and sonatas."
A family affair
Music, especially New Orleans jazz, is a way of life for Rachel, Marlon, Stephanie and their brother, flutist Kent Jordan. They are all children of saxophonist Edward "Kidd" Jordan, who the French government recognized with a knighthood for his contribution to the European performing arts.
Sir Kidd Jordan also lost irreplaceable music mementos.
"My father lost 50 or 60 saxophones," Marlon said. "He's been playing since he was 20 years old."
Soon after the hurricane, Stephanie and her siblings performed during Jazz at Lincoln Center's Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit broadcast nationwide. This fall, she and Marlon are touring Europe as part of the U.S. State Department's Higher Ground relief effort.
For now, The Jordan Family, with drummer Ocie Davis, pianist Mike Esneault and bass player Roland Guerin — who played with Michael White's quartet at last week's Summer of Jazz concert — are enjoying "The Good Life" in Glenwood Springs.
"We'll play stuff people recognize, some Billie Holliday and Frank Sinatra," Stephanie said.
"And Marlon will play a couple blues songs from New Orleans. Maybe we'll do a little Latin flavor for a nice mix."
Contact April E. Clark: 945-8515, ext. 518
aclark@postindependent.com
* * * * *
Summer of Jazz profile
Every Wednesday, the Summer of Jazz concert series hosts free concerts from 7-9:30 p.m. at Two Rivers Park. This year, Summer of Jazz is in tribute to New Orleans music and its heritage. Each week the Post Independent profiles the featured musicians and acts. For more information on The Jordan Family, visit www.summerofjazz.com.
• Name: The Jordan Family
• Ages: 35 to 47 - Glenwood Springs Post Independent - April E. Clark
Sylvain Music Notes -- The St. Croix Blue Bay Jazz Fest 2007 let loose a star-studded compact of New Orleans Jazz greats and the very best that St. Croix has on offer in a four-day long event from Thursday, November 15 to Sunday, November 18. Bridget Dawson, Executive Director of the Frederiksted Economic Development Association, proclaimed the festival the "best event in nearly 20-years on the island," touting the economic boom to the local downtown economy.
Bill Kassler writes, "Walking up and down Strand Street among the well behaved throng were a veritable who's who of St. Croix society, with senators, commissioners and characters mingling with musicians and tourists, saying hello to friends, eating drinking and dancing."
""It looks like the night life is coming back to Frederiksted," Sen. Terrence "Positive" Nelson said, when cornered in Buddhoe Park on his way to the stage.
The New Orleans Trumpet Summit, composed of the best Big Easy trumpet players, opened with a string of Louis Armstrong and other old-school jazz classics and modern interpretations. James "12" Andrews and his brother Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, of the large musical Andrews family, Christian Scott and Marlon Jordan of the Jordans, another New Orleans family with several generations of musicians, made the "Trumpet Summit" sizzle. James, who is also known as "Satchmo of the Ghetto" has a way of making his audience dance to tradition jazz tunes.
Henry Butler, the blind keyboard player from the Crescent City brought the waterside crowd to their feet with a series of rhythm and blues numbers. "Butler sprinkled his repertoire with tunes that have become emblems of New Orleans and Mardi Gras: Robert Parker's "All Night Long," "Hey Pocky-Away," made famous by the Funky Meters, and Professor Longhair's street party classics "Going to the Mardi Gras" and "Big Chief."
Stephanie Jordan and the Jordan Family held true to the straight-ahead jazz style which has become their signature sound. Opening with "Fly with the Wind," brothers Kent Jordan used the tune to show his range on the piccolo while Marlon Jordan’s feature on "The Great City" exposed St. Croix to his encyclopedic knowledge of the entire jazz trumpet tradition. During their performance of "Here’s to Life" it was as if even the waves were listening to every lush word uttered by Stephanie. No wonder she has been called the "Classy Lady of Jazz."
Backing up the Jordan family were Mike Esnault on keyboards, Peter Harris on bass and drummer John Jones. Stephanie held the crowd captured by her silky voice and fluid movements, more than earning the label the "JazzHot!"
The Jordan Family paid special tribute to their late uncle, jazz clarinetist Alvin Batiste, performing two selections, one from Batiste’s Music D’Afique Suite and the latter from the Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste CD. Stephanie led the group in an up-tempo bounce blues of "My Life Is a Tree" which had the crowd tapping and singing along to the vocals written by Edith Batiste which is a message about steadfastness. On "Glimpses", sister Rachel Jordan played a stunning violin solo which had the audience mesmerize in a trancelike state.
This year’s inaugural Blue Bay Jazz Fest was dedicated to the memory of the late clarinetist Alvin Batiste who died at 74 on May 6, 2007. His wife was on hand to recite a poem in his honor. While the ideal for the New Orleans-theme festival was hatched in St. Croix and cultivated by Dawson, it was Alvin who made the suggestion of selected artists.
"We had so much fun on St. Croix we hate to go back home," said trumpeter Christian Scott in a pre-show interview. "St Croix's culture, architecture and cuisine are really special," Scott told interviewer Carol Buchanan. Scott said his music blurs the lines between neo-soul, indie rock and 19th century Western classical music. His sextet performed selections such as "Like That" from their latest CD, "Anthem."
Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and his band Orleans Avenue, got the evening heated up with funk, pop, hip-hop and a mix of jazz in tunes "I Want My Money Back," "Orleans Claiborne" and "Act Bad 5th Ward Weebie." The group took the audience down a musical voyage from James Brown to Morris Day and The Times with a bit of New Orleans brass thrown in for good measure.
Their performance transcended generations. "This is doin' it," said Harold DeMund, dancing with his wife Norma, both in their 60s.
"These young lions amaze me," said Jerry Jones, DJ from Mongoose radio 104.9, and master of ceremonies for jazz fest. "It sounds like they have been playing and playing together for 40 or 50 years."
Saturday’s headliner Donald Harrison Jr. and his band started off set with Louis Armstrong's classic tune, "What a Wonderful World." Their rendition of the Jackson Five's "Want You Back," got the crowd shaking. Joining alto saxophonist Harrison in a jam session was pianist Henry Butler, Harrison's nephew Scott and Andrews.
The week began on Thursday, November 15 with an invitation-only Hugo to Katrina benefit hosted by the United States Virgin Islands Governor John deJongh Jr. and FEDA at the Government House in St. Croix. Lieutenant Governor Gregory Francis welcomed the New Orleans musicians and thanked them for sharing their musical talents with the people of St. Croix. He spoke of the many similarities between New Orleans and St. Croix.
"All the seats on flights to St. Croix are full and hotels are close to capacity," added Rupert Ross, chairman of the board of directors of FEDA. "St Croix is a sleeping giant awakening and we're making it happen." Entertainment at the Governor’s Ballroom was provided by St. Croix’s Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights with a cameo performance by Donald Harrison.
"All in all, the Blue Bay Jazz Fest promises to become a major event on the Caribbean’s Jazz calendar so long as the producers can come up with exciting rosters in the future as was conceived for this year’s edition. The concept, New Orleans style, is unprecedented in our region to my knowledge" according to a St. Croix jazz enthusiast. - Jazz Review
Over at Aleathea’s, an intimate restaurant located inside the charming Victorian-styled Inn of Cape May, singer Stephanie Jordan cast a spell over listeners with her dramatic delivery and highly expressive voice. Laying back behind the beat while enunciating clearly in a style reminiscent of vocalist Jimmy Scott, Jordan imbued “You Don’t Know What Love Is” with deep feeling before turning Abbey Lincoln’s “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” into a stirring, cathartic vehicle. With her brother, trumpeter Marlon Jordan, echoing and shading her beautiful voice, Stephanie crept into Dinah Washington territory on a profoundly blue reading of “Stormy Monday” then interpreted Billie Holiday’s signature piece, “Good Morning Heartache,” with a rare balance of vulnerability and deep soul. Already a seasoned performer, the daughter of New Orleans musician and renowned educator Kidd Jordan is a singular interpreter of ballads and blues whose profile has been on the rise since her “coming out” appearance last year at the gala Katrina benefit held in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater. Clearly, this gifted young singer is on a fast track to jazz stardom. - JazzTimes Magazine / Bill Milkowski
By Cheryl Kain
Friday, August 4, 2006
For Stephanie Jordan's family, music is a way of life. She would say that music is her life. One of seven children, singer and jazz musician Stephanie Jordan was born and raised in New Orleans by her housewife mother and musician father. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Jordan spent nine years in Washington, D.C. This year marks her 10th year in the D.C. area, where she performed gigs with Cape drummer Bart Weisman.
On Aug. 12, Jordan will be here on the Cape at the Provincetown Art Association Museum as part WOMR's second annual Provincetown Jazz Festival.
Some areas of her now-abandoned suburban New Orleans neighborhood received up to 13 inches of water. "My house had 8 feet," says Jordan. Her family home of 37 years was completely devastated and has to be completely gutted, rewired and rebuilt. The musical family includes flutist Kent, trumpeter Marlon, and violinist Rachel. Trumpeter and frequent collaborator, brother Marlon Jordan lost his house (and was airlifted off his roof); violinist sister Rachel's (professor of music at Jackson State) roof was blown off. Her other sister, Christie, the family archivist, lost her home as well. Uncle Maynard Chatter's home survived; her other uncle Alvin Baptiste's New Orleans home did not. In Jordan's immediate and extended family alone, between 20-25 houses are gone, all relatives are dispersed around the country. She adds, "It's a beautiful community. We all hope to go back."
"When folks think of Hurricane Katrina, they need to understand the devastation of a community as it affects families. Our story is one of many stories, and it's more than a loss of a house or home - it's the loss of a community, a loss of a way of life," says Jordan. For generations, the Jordan family has been making music, their primary source of income. Her father, saxophonist Edward "Kidd" Jordan, teaches at Southern University in New Orleans. "Our main industry is gone. Since we're musicians, my Dad's University has been shut down for the first time ever." The university did reopen, but the music department is literally history. Jordan's father is the only person remaining.
"For many hurt by Katrina, it is not just about surviving the storm and rebuilding their houses; they must address quality of life issues. Rebuilding our cherished historical American city, New Orleans, is a political priority. The 'guts' of jazz are gleaned from basic human experience, and the city's vital importance as a cultural and jazz Mecca impacts all of us, even if we have not lost our homes. Over 400,000 residents are gone, and the majority of these are African Americans. New Orleans without the African American community is not New Orleans." Jordan says. "For me to no longer have access to my family and other musicians, it changes my perspective. I have been blessed with a lot and I took it for granted. I realize how incredible these musicians are -- to not be able to visit certain communities and not have jam sessions is heart-breaking. I need to be out here telling our story through music.
Jordan just finished performing with brother Marlon and Rachel at The Kennedy Center in July. She held her own with vocalists Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson and others in Blue Note Records' Higher Ground CD, a historic evening mounted by Winton Marsalis that documents the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Concert, which took place in the Rose Hall Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center last September. The whole Jordan music family is featured on the CD, and all proceeds from Higher Ground go to displaced Katrina musicians. Stephanie collaborates with brother Marlon (www.marlonjordan.com) on her acclaimed CD "You Don't Know What Love Is."
At the PAAM concert, Stephanie will sing a song by one of her favorite artists, the great Abbey Lincoln, called "Throw it Away." For many people, music is an instant mood-changer. The right music soothes a savage day, inspires, or open us up to love; and for those touched by Katrina, music is not just a luxury but a necessity. "Music in general helps me cope," adds Jordan. "When I looked around and had to take account of what I physically own, I had my duffel bag, my nine-year-old son, and I had my voice. I could sing myself to sleep after I cried."
Jordan's family is not only known for their enchanting music, but also for their mouth-watering soul food. One of the final remnants of her pre-Katrina life was her grandma's famous recipes. "I had her recipes in my head, and my songs in my heart," says Stephanie. She adds, "When I first settled into my apartment, I found myself making lots of grand mama's stuffed bell peppers and potato salad."
Jordan's smoky vocals have been described as "silk-between-the-fingers" and fans liken her to Carmen McCrae and Lena Horne. Jazz critic Eugene Holly writes, "Stephanie's tone and diction combine Nancy Wilson's razor-sharp diction an - The CAPE CODDER
The centerpiece of the new Louisiana Red Hot Records CD Marlon Jordan Featuring Stephanie Jordan is the introduction of a new singer. Trumpeter Marlon Jordan, who hit the music world hard in the 1990s with three well-praised recordings on the Columbia label, features his sister Stephanie on vocals. Where has this lady been hiding?
Stephanie Jordan has impressive agility as a singer. Listening to her waltz through these lyrics, displaying equal parts pleasure and pain, takes you into the lush side of the blues, when the force of love throttles the heart with pangs you never forget, but which you simply learn not to remember every waking hour.
On the subtitle cut, “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” Stephanie works with lyrics that are entwined with the memory of Johnny Adams in his mellow years, the lounge lizard vein; her version is marked by a softening of the gruffer blues style for which that late singer was known.
Johnny Adams, the self-styled “songbird of the South,” sang “You Don’t Know What Love Is” in the last decade of his career. Rounder Records producer Scott Billington insured that he had a stellar studio band and good arrangements. Adams’ voice, seasoned by years of cigarettes, took on a deep, husky, brooding suggestiveness, as if each phrase was tinged with the sorrow of “you-know-I-been-there-and-got-hit-hard.” Stephanie’s voice has the warmer, sensuous hues of youth. With lyrics by Don Raye and Gene DePaul, s/he sings:
You don’t know
What love is
Until you learn the meaning
Of the blues
Stephanie Jordan’s interpretation, accompanied by Marlon’s sleek horn lines, conveys a young woman’s meditation on why love leads to sorrow — a view of the human experiment more focused on spring roots than the bluesman’s vista of winter rain. After the first few times I listened to Jordan’s take, I went back to the Adams version, switching between the two, wondering what it would be like to hear alternating passages of Stephanie singing to Johnny and vice versa, as Natalie Cole sang in response on those “Unforgettable” tracks laid down years ago by her long departed pére, Nat King Cole.
The great drummer Art Blakey said that once a musician puts an idea into the world, the world owns it. He might have added that the better the idea, the more it will be reworked. “You Don’t Know What Love Is” stands as a stunning song in both renditions, Stephanie’s and Johnny’s. That sense of shifting ownership in the territories of jazz endows this new CD in other ways as well.
Stephanie’s sister Rachel Jordan is the accomplished executive producer on this new CD. Rachel, who trained at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Md., and is a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, plays a silken violin on several cuts. As producer, Rachel oversaw a recording that registers a quality of high musicianship, particularly in the arrangements by pianist Darrell Lavigne.
Marlon Jordan Featuring Stephanie Jordan is also a debut portrait of the larger family as influenced (guided may be too overarching a term) by patriarch Edward “Kidd” Jordan, the longtime SUNO jazz educator and driving force in the World Saxophone Quartet. Kidd’s wailing sax solo on “My Favorite Things” is a potent reminder that John Coltrane’s version of that famous song stands as a classic of jazz improvisation and (to borrow from Blakey once again) therefore subject to improvisation. The presence of Alvin Batiste’s poetic clarinet on “All Blues,” a Miles Davis composition from the “birth of the cool” era, is an echoing reminder of that small network of progressive jazzmen and composers – Kidd, Alvin Batiste, Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste, the late Nat Perrilliat, James Black and Mel Lastie – who together forged a Crescent City modernist sound more than a generation ago.
Following in that imposing tradition is Kent Jordan, the vaunted flutist who hit his stride as a jazz artist on the national scene in the early 1990s. Kent wields a mean piccolo on the cut “Now Baby, or Never.”
Like the Humphreys, Adamses, Marsalises, Nevilles and other clans now synonymous with New Orleans music, the Jordans are advancing a tradition of music shaped by family ties. With due respect to the mystery of how artistic genes course through generations of such families, I think something else bears mention. Many years ago I asked Ellis Marsalis if his sons’ success stemmed from a family tradition. “No,” he said, deadpan. “It was the teaching.”
Kidd Jordan might genially agree. He, Marsalis and Alvin Batiste are pioneering jazz educators. If every public school in this city had a band with good music teachers, a bonafide music industry would be immeasurably strengthened.
In the meantime, keep your eye on Stephanie Jordan. She’ll pop up on your television on some national show one of these days – hopefully with kinfolk in tow. •
- New Orleans Magazine - Jason Berry
Nov. 8, 2005
To say "Thank You" to Romanians for their support for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Marlon Jordan Quartet of New Orleans, in cooperation with the American Cultural Center of the U.S. Embassy, gave two concerts on November 4 and 5. In Bucharest, after attending a reception at the Cultural Center, where the group met with leading political and cultural personalities, the Marlon Jordan Quartet, featuring vocalist Stephanie Jordan, performed at the Event Club, a leading jazz venue. In Ploiesti, the ensemble performed at the city’s Philharmonic Hall before an audience of 300 jazz fans.
During this tour, the Marlon Jordan Quartet also performed in Germany, Lithuania, and Ukraine to say thanks for the support from those countries. The quartet’s performances in Romania were part of the “New Orleans Jazz Heritage Tours” sponsored by the U.S. State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York.
The Quartet’s Bucharest performance will be broadcast soon on Radio Romania, while the Ploiesti concert will be shown in the near future on Senso TV.
In Germany, the Marlon Jordan Quartet featuring Stephanie Jordan gave a jazz concert on November 7, 2005 in Berlin at the Rotes Rathaus. The Marlon Jordan Quartet performed before an audience of 350 invited guests, including representatives of relief organizations, businesses, schools and other institutions that so generously helped the people of New Orleans in their time of need. After the concert, U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, William R. Timken hosted a reception for all invited guests.
U.S Ambassador Timken added "as we band together to offer humanitarian relief to communities affected by natural disasters — whether in the United States, Pakistan, Central America or Africa — it is important to offer help to repair the human spirit . . . Tonight, we welcome a group of talented musicians from the New Orleans area. Their music is an integral part of the spiritual strength of the people of this region."
The project gives musicians from the New Orleans area who have lost their usual venues an opportunity to share the music that so vividly expresses the region’s melting of cultures. Based on their performance during the Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Benefit, Marlon and Stephanie Jordan were invited by the United States Embassy to participate in the New Orleans Jazz Heritage Tour.
The children of New Orleans tenor sax titan and educator Kidd Jordan who delighted the Rose Theater crowd with an affecting rendition of Shirley Horn's "Here's to Life" appears as track #13 on the official Blue Note Records release of select performances from that night's event. The cut features Marlon on trumpet, Kent on flute, Rachel on violin and Stephanie on vocals accompanied by LCJO members. You may obtain a copy of the benefit CD by visiting www.bluenote.com.
- The US Embassy
Friday, April 28 on the Zatarain's/WWOZ Jazz Tent Stage
NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell today announced that the Stephanie Jordan Big Band will appear on opening day, Friday, April 28, 2017 in the Zatarain's/WWOZ Jazz Tent as part of the musical lineup for the 2017 Festival scheduled for April 28 - 30 and from May 4 - 7, 2017. For this year's performance, Stephanie Jordan will dedicate her show to the music of two of her favorite artists Nancy Wilson and Stevie Wonder by performing her rendition of their music.
Headline acts for 2017 include Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Harry Connick, Jr., Maroon 5, Snoop Dogg, Earth, Wind & Fire, Patti LaBelle, Alabama Shakes, Meghan Trainor, Jon Batiste and Stay Human, Boney James, Pitbull, The Meters and others. Some local favorites includes Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Batiste Fathers and Sons, Ellis Marsalis, John Boutté, Irma Thomas, The New Orleans Groove Masters ft. Herlin Riley, A Salute to Louis Armstrong featuring Hugh Masekela and Dr. Michael White, Big Chief Donald Harrison, The Great American Songbook ft. Germaine Bazzle, Leah Chase, Topsy Chapman and Solid Harmony, Tonya Boyd-Cannon, Chocolate Milk, and more than 500 additional artists are scheduled to appear at the 2017 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell.
Stephanie Jordan is consistently praised for her poise, elegance and soulful articulation. She draws frequent comparisons to her inspirations, the legendary jazz singers Shirley Horn, Abbey Lincoln, Lena Horne and Carmen McRae. Critics have also likened Ms. Jordan to jazz stars Diana Krall and Nancy Wilson.
Jordan has performed in the presence of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama; sang to Stevie Wonder in honor of his birthday; been featured at the private celebration of 'Oprah Winfrey and Friends of Susan Taylor,' and she sang the National Anthem for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game.
Jordan has performed on such stellar stages as the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the NBA All-Star Game, Chicago's Harris Theater, the Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland, "The Palace" Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey and others. Jordan served as US Jazz Ambassadors' on a European Tour to Bucharest, Germany, Lithuania and Ukraine on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Jordan appears in Lee Daniels' production of "The Paperboy" singing a featured tune; the movie co-stars Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, and John Cusack among others. Jordan also recorded a tune for the 2013 remake of the film "Heat" which stars Jason Statham and Sofia Vergara. Stephanie Jordan also performed the soundtrack "Season's Start" in the Tribecca Film release of Café Society staring Lara Flynn Boyle and Peter Gallagher.
Stephanie's silky vocals are also featured on Marlon Jordan's "You Don't Know What Love Is" album and Kent Jordan's "Out of This World" CD. The "Christmas with the New Orleans Ladies of Jazz" CD produced by sister Rachel Jordan features New Orleans' renowned jazz divas; Germaine Bazzle, Leah Chase, and Stephanie Jordan with the Music Alive Ensemble.
Recognized internationally, the Sud Ouest French publication calls her "unbelievably superb." The Washingtonian Magazine labeled her "JAZZHOT." Audix Microphones has dubbed her "Lady Jazz!"
Stephanie is a member of New Orleans' renowned Jordan Family of Jazz whose father is Kidd Jordan; and siblings Kent, Marlon and Rachel Jordan.
Started in 1970, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival continues to showcase the most important names in music history alongside many of Louisiana's favorite entertainers. Early-bird advanced single-day tickets for Jazz Fest are $65 through February 14, but the price will increase to $70 beginning Feb. 15. The gate price will be $80 in 2017. Tickets for children up to age 10 are $5 and must be purchased at the gate. Adult advance tickets are available at www.nojazzfest.com and www.ticketmaster.com, at all Ticketmaster outlets or by calling (800) 745-3000. The least expensive way to purchase tickets is by doing so in-person with cash at the Smoothie King Center Box Office, 1501 Dave Dixon Drive, New Orleans.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell is a co-production of Festival Productions Louisiana, LLC. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Festival Productions, Inc.-New Orleans) and AEG Louisiana Production, LLC. (a subsidiary of AEG Live).
To learn more about Stephanie, please visit her website at www.StephanieJordan.com.
More Information: http://www.nojazzfest.com/ - JazzCorner News
" . . . Another renowned New Orleans family, the Jordans, escaped Katrina, dispersed to different cities and reunited at this Higher Ground benefit. Featuring Marlon on trumpet, Kent on flute, Rachel on violin and Stephanie on vocals accompanied by LCJO members . . . , the children of New Orleans tenor sax titan and educator Kidd Jordan delighted the Rose Theater crowd with an affecting rendition of "Here's to Life."
Singer Stephanie Jordan, a standout here, was the real discovery of the evening. Her haunting rendition of this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a depth of understated soul that mesmerized the crowd and registered to the back rows. Singing with a clarity of diction that recalled Nat “King” Cole, she offered an uplifting message of hope in her heartfelt reading . . . "
This Higher Ground concert, seen nationally on PBS affiliates around the country, was also simultaneously broadcast on WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM and WNYC, New York Public Radio 93.9 FM, in the New York City area, and internationally via National Public Radio Worldwide. XM Satellite Radio carried concert live on its network from coast to coast on channel 70, the Real Jazz channel. The concert was also streamed live on www.npr.org, www.wbgo.org, and www.xmradio.com.
Jazz At Lincoln Center Announces 2006-07 Season
ALL ABOUT JAZZ
Singers Over Manhattan
Featuring Stephanie Jordan with the Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson Quartet
October 20 & 21, 2006, 7:30pm & 9:30pm sets, The Allen Room
Singers Over Manhattan returns to The Allen Room for a series of evenings with some of today's great jazz vocalists.
New Orleans native Stephanie Jordan returns after her memorable appearance at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Higher Ground Benefit Concert.
NEW YORK, NY (BlackNews.com) - Standards get fresher. Every so often a new voice stands up and proclaims itself, but few do so with such supreme depth and understated soul. Emerging from the New Orleans jazz family Jordan, Stephanie Jordan was last year's Higher Ground Concert's "real discovery" (JazzTimes). She's joined in sweet counterpoint by Wess "Warmdaddy" Anderson, whose buoyant saxophone voice continues to proclaim itself with unmatched joy and warmth.
- JAZZTIMES Magazine - Bill Milkowski
NEW YORK, NY (10-20-2006) -- Last September 17th, a fortnight after Hurricane Katrina, an extraordinary cohort of singers-among them, in no particular order, Shirley Caesar, Aaron and Arthur Neville, Cassandra Wilson, Diane Reeves, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, James Taylor, and Bette Midler-convened at the Rose Theatre to perform a benefit relief concert for the victims of the catastrophic.
On that memorable night; none sang with greater authority or emotional resonance than Stephanie Jordan, who enthralled the packed house and a national PBS NPR audience of millions with an ascendant reading of “Here’s To Life.” Framed by her siblings Marlon (trumpet), Kent (flute), and Rachel (violin), each, like their sister, a native New Orleanian newly uprooted from their home. Jordan brought the concert to its climax, rendering the Phyllis Molinary lyric-an instant classic when the late Shirley Horn recorded it in 1991—with impeccable diction, dead-center pitch, and a personal point of view, acknowledging Horn’s antecedent version while drawing independent conclusions about tempo, phrasing, and dynamics. In the process, Jordan—until her late twenties, her only singing was around the house, and she did not make a record until 2005—revealed a fully evolved tonal personality, one that can be mentioned in a conversation about such distinguished mentors and influences as Horn, Abbey Lincoln, and Nancy Wilson.
“Shirley’s phrasing takes your breath away,” say Jordan, who attended Howard University during the 1980’s, and became friends with Horn while residing in the Washington, D.C. area until 1996. “She would tell me things like, ‘You’ve got to hold back, but know when to go full throttle, too’—restrain your power so you can create tension with the audience and with the band. It’s always a beautiful tension, a quiet control that you have to understand at all times. We had a lot of conversations about that. I love Abby and Lena Horne, too, because of the drama and power of their voices, the ability to deliver a song and draw the audience to you. First and foremost for me is the lyric. IF I don’t like the words, I’m not singing it.”
A dancer earlier in life, Jordan never took a voice lesson, nor apprenticed in a band or choir. But the music is in her DNA.
Her father is Edward “Kidd” Jordan, known internationally as an outcat tenor saxophonist, but also a respected session musician, classical soloist, and educator around New Orleans, who taught the fundamentals to such luminaries as Brandford Marsalis and Donald Harrison, as well as his own children. Her uncle is bebop-and-beyond clarinet visionary Alvin Batiste, who played during the 1950s in the American Jazz Quintet with Ellis Marsalis and Edward Blackwell, and in the 1960s founded the well respected jazz curriculum at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where Wessell “Warmdaddy” Anderson, the former Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (formerly LCJO) alto saxophonist whose quartet will be Jordan’s band for half of this evening, matriculated during the 1980s. Since his mid-80s retirement, Batiste has continued to perform, frequently hiring his niece for confidence-building gigs during the years when she was building her craft.
“I never want to do the same thing the same way all the time,” Jordan says. “I’m always listening for some sound that’s going to take me into another direction. That’s the magic that is jazz.
“I’ve walked away from it several times, but I’m a jazz singer. I can’t be anything else. After Katrina, I said, “This is it; I’m going for it now.’ My house is washed away. The city is washed away. What else can I do that I really enjoy, and also support myself? So I guess I’ll just go on ahead and sing.”
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National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation; Jordan Family Musicians Shape New Orleans Sound
Nation, May 25, 2006 · Sir Edward "Kidd" Jordan was a champion of new styles of jazz in New Orleans, and now his children are making their mark on music.
Guests:
Marlon Jordan, trumpet
Kent Jordan, flute
Stephanie Jordan, vocals
To Listen visit this link:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5430737 - By Ted Panken / Jazz at Lincoln Center Playbill
"Local chanteuse Stephanie Jordan set the anthem on a slow burn Sunday night, delivering the most smoldering rendition of the song since Marvin Gaye performed it at another NBA All-Star Game more than 20 years ago. I think a star was born. Another blazing light in our constellation. It was all just right, just right, so good, so New Orleans." - Chris Rose
(http://blog.nola.com/chrisrose/2008/02/nba_all_star_event_celebrates.html) - The Times-Picayune
Saturday, May 03, 2008
By Susan Langenhennig
On the last day of the 2007 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell, Branford Marsalis was backstage at the WWOZ Jazz Tent speaking with friends in a low, stunned voice.
Just hours earlier, his mentor, Alvin Batiste, had died of a heart attack. Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr. and other musicians had quickly turned a scheduled performance into a tribute to Batiste, a revered composer, educator and clarinetist.
On stage was jazz vocalist Stephanie Jordan, Batiste's niece. Initially she'd planned to sing "Skylark," but changed at the last minute to honor her uncle with "Here's to Life." Tears coursed down her cheeks as her brother Marlon accompanied on trumpet.
"So here's to life, and every joy it brings.
"Here's to life, to dreamers and their dreams."
Marsalis had known the Jordans since they were children, and he'd heard Stephanie perform before. But this time was different.
"Funny how the time just flies,
"How love can turn from warm hellos to sad goodbyes."
Emotion was running high. Jordan's strong voice rode the tent's turbulent waves of joy and grief, captivating the audience and the backstage crowd.
"We were all in shock" over Batiste's death, Marsalis recalled recently from his home in North Carolina. "Then Stephanie started singing. It was a level of wisdom, passion I hadn't heard before. I just had to stop and pay attention. "
Months later, when the National Basketball Association asked Marsalis to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" on his soprano saxophone at the All-Star Game in the New Orleans Arena, he tapped Jordan to sing. Jonathan Dubose Jr. rounded out the trio on guitar.
The invitation came as a shock, Jordan said.
With just one month to prepare, she sang with Marsalis for the first time during a sound check a few hours before the performance was beamed into millions of living rooms around the country.
"I don't think I've ever been that nervous," Jordan, 43, said with a laugh recently as she took her 11-year-old son, Paul, for a Plum Street snowball. "I was up there with these world-class musicians before a worldwide audience. To say I had the jitters would put it mildly."
Dressed for the occasion
It wasn't the singing that worried her. She'd performed on some of jazz's biggest stages, from Lincoln Center in New York to Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Jordan fretted over the perfect outfit. From the New Orleans Saks Fifth Avenue dressing room, she e-mailed photos of dresses through her Blackberry to her out-of-town aunt and pored over options with her mom.
Finally, Jordan settled on a golden silk Nicole Miller sheath, a lone gold bangle on her right wrist, soft makeup and loose, shoulder-sweeping curls.
On the night of Feb. 17, she took the microphone at center court, back arched, feet in a dancer's stance, the picture of a songbird cut from the Billy Holiday cloth.
Her voice equally harked to the genre's golden age.
"Stephanie sang with a solemnity you just don't hear in popular culture today," Marsalis said. "She has impact. She was singing to the nation. We're at war in two countries, and she got it. It was powerful melancholy.
"When she sings, there's true emotion."
Jordan comes from a family of musical talents. The fifth of seven children, she's the daughter of saxophonist and educator Edward "Kidd" Jordan and Edvidge Jordan (who plays piano but not professionally). Her sister Rachel is a violinist, brother Kent plays the flute and Marlon, the trumpet.
Unlike her siblings, instruments weren't an early draw. Growing up in eastern New Orleans, Jordan took dance lessons at Ballet Hysell and tried the harp "for about a month before it became a decoration in the house," she said.
She didn't even sing in the choir.
Still music swirled around the house like a perpetual soundtrack.
"There was always some instrument being played. It was a competition just to watch TV in peace," Jordan said.
With her dad a prominent figure in the local music industry, the family got regular tickets to the big shows in town. The cast of "The Wiz" came to a party at her house, and she recalls being mesmerized by Lena Horne in concert in the early 1980s.
In high school, Jordan loved Chaka Khan. But she equally revered Connie Chung.
After graduating from McDonogh 35 High School, Jordan attended Loyola University, then transferred to Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she earned a degree in journalism.
She interned at television stations and landed a job in radio after college.
A birthday to remember
Then on her 26th birthday, Jordan got a wild hair.
Her brother Kent was playing at the Takoma Station Tavern jazz club in Washington. As a birthday indulgence, she asked if she could join him and pianist Doug Karn for a song.
They said yes; she chose "I Remember April."
The crowd loved it. Club owner Bobb - Times-Picayune
Friday, March 31, 2017 from 5:00 - 9:30 PM
NEW ORLEANS - Jazz in the Park will kick off its 2017 spring concert series with a four-day Jazz in the Park Treme Crab Festival featuring the music of internationally known artists Michael Franks and Roy Ayers headlining a ticketed concert on Friday, March 31, 2017 in Louis Armstrong Park with local Jazz vocalist Stephanie Jordan performing as the opening act beginning at 5:00 pm.
Tickets to see Franks and Ayers went on sale Monday (Jan. 23, 2017) on Eventbrite. Early-bird tickets are $25 and $50. After Feb. 14, the tickets will be $35, $60, Lain said. VIP tickets are $100 no matter when they are purchased.
Vibraphonist/vocalist Roy Ayers is among the best-known, most loved and respected jazz/R&B artist on the music-scene today.
Now in his fourth decade in the music business, Ayers, known as the Godfather of Neo-soul, continues to bridge the gap between generations of music lovers. In the 60's he was an award-winning jazz vibraphonist, and transformed into a popular R&B band leader in the 70's/80's. Today, the dynamic music man is an iconic figure still in great demand and whose music industry heavyweights, including Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, 50 Cent, A Tribe Called Quest, Tupac and Ice Cube.
Ayers recently recorded with hip hop artist Talib Kweli (produced by Kanye West) and jazz/R&B singer Wil Downing. Many of Ayers' songs including: "Everybody Loves the Sunshine","Searchin", Running Away" have been frequently sampled and remixed by DJ's worldwide.
Michael Franks occupied a uniquely popular niche in the world of soft jazz and pop music in the 1970s; he was one of those crossover artists who defied easy category on the radio..., Franks' early idols included such jazz-cum-pop legends as Nat King Cole and Peggy Lee..., His album, The Art of Tea, which featured the work of top jazz session players Larry Carlton, Joe Sample, and Wilton Felder, was his first serious commercial and critical success, its sales driven by the presence of the hit single "Popsicle Toes." It also established Franks' sound, with its smooth jazz textures and crossover pop appeal.
He enjoyed a string of successes over the next few years, including the hit "The Lady Wants to Know" (on Sleeping Gypsy), "When I Give My Love to You," "Monkey See, Monkey Do," "Rainy Night In Tokyo," and "Tell Me All About It." His music also evolved over this period, embraced Latin (especially Brazilian) influences and, later, adopted a New York jazz sound in tandem with his move to the east coast, and he collaborated with more major players, including Ron Carter, David Sanborn, the Crusaders, Toots Thielemans, and Eric Gale.
The Washington Post boasts of Stephanie Jordan's Kennedy Center performance, "A poised, soulfully articulate vocalist, Jordan turned in a performance that warmly evoked the influence of Abbey Lincoln, Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae and other jazz greats."
Following her performance with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, Chicago Tribune's leading art critic Howard Reich wrote, "The woman can sing and indisputably knows how to reach out across the footlights . . . bringing heft to music of the Gershwins and Cole Porter without pushing volume levels. Clearly she values plush sound and knows how to produce it."
The full Jazz in the Park Treme Crab Festival will be held March 30 through April 2 in Louis Armstrong Park.
People United for Armstrong Park, which presents the series, is partnering with Budweiser and attorney Morris Bart, on the crab festival, which will serves as the opening event of the regular Thursday Jazz in the Park spring concert series in Louis Armstrong Park. The festival begins March 30, with the crab festival and a lineup of New Orleans musicians. The free music shows and crab-focused festival will resume on April 1 and 2.
Emanuel Lain Jr., executive director of People United for Armstrong Park, said that so far seven food vendors have been confirmed.
"We are getting a tremendous response from the restaurants," Lain said. "However, we are looking forward to even more restaurants joining us as participants."
In 2016, Jazz in the Park expanded its opening spring festival to three days, focusing on art. This year, crab is the theme of the opening event. "With the explosion of food festivals, we decided to throw our hat in the ring," he said. "New Orleans has a love affair with crab."
A portion of the money raised from the crab festival will go to Covenant House's Sleep to Support Homeless Youth campaign and to help pay for the regular concert series. "In addition, one of our goals is to try to incorporate some of the homeless youth at Covenant House to work at our festival," Lain said.
The rest of the crab fest food and music lineup and the musicians who will perform at the regular Thursday concerts will be announced soon, Lain said.
Jazz in the Park puts on a series of nine Thursdays each spring and nine in the fall. Thursday events are free and take place in Armstrong Park, which is bounded by St. Philip, Rampart, Basin, St. Peter and North Villere Streets.
For more information, call 504.233.4276 or send an email to emanuel@armstrongpark.org or visit pufap.org/index. - JazzCorner News
Gifted vocalist Stephanie Jordan, daughter of legendary saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan, and sibling to three musicians, comes from a renowned Crescent City musical family. She says the question she asks every day to her family, “Have you talked to mama today, talked to daddy today? What’d y’all eat?”
Part I of II
What do you mean when you say you can “grow up in jazz?”
One of the interesting things about jazz is that you can grow up in jazz, especially when you’re a vocalist. When I first started singing when I was 26 years old. I knew I couldn’t sing. I didn’t have the experience. The songs didn’t speak to me because I didn’t know what they were about. I hadn’t lived enough. I couldn’t necessarily communicate to my audience. Jazz can grow you up, can mature you and help you understand where you fit into the world.
A New Orleans native, you must know how to speak the language of jazz.
Jazz is important, especially when you get down to the lyrics in a song. I don’t sing anything that I don’t like lyrically. I have to like the words. The words have to speak to me, so if words don’t really excite my soul, I’m not interested in the song. I don’t care how famous the song is or how familiar the composer is, though I love and respect composers and lyricists.
If you were given a pass to talk to any singer on the “other side,” who would it be?
Well, I’m going to have to lay it down on the line: Dinah Washington. The first time I heard Dinah’s voice, it just blew me away because it was powerful, strong and her diction was impeccable. When I started singing, I purposely wanted somehow to sound like Dinah. Dinah was so bold, hip, dark like me and feminine, but bossy like me! Dinah had to fight at a time when a woman had to stand up and have some grit. I would like to ask her, “Did you really hold a gun on your manager?” [Laugh]
You’re set to sing on stage; you open your mouth. What comes next?
I’m thinking about the words. I always open up with a song I’m so familiar with that I could sing it and a train could pass through the tent stage and not miss a note. I always like to open up with something that’s strong, that I really have under my fingers and underneath my tongue. That I can get the words out and set a tone. I’m very focused when I come out. Once I plan lyrics, arrangements and musicians, then I can start relaxing, especially if I’m on a big stage. The bigger, the happier I am. I understand you’re into yoga. Yes, yoga, and I teach a free class for the public, a jazz Pilates class sponsored by the Parks Service at the Old Mint. I use a CD by my brother Kent Jordan called Out of This World with the great singer Gloria Lynn. Not Just Knee Deeptakes me over the edge. I love some Parliament. - Deborah DeMoss Smith, KMHD Jazz Radio
Discography
1. Stephanie Jordan Sings A Tribute to the Fabulous Lena Horne; Yesterday When I Was Young (Vige Music).
2. You Don't Know What Love Is - Marlon Jordan featuring Stephanie Jordan.
3. Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Benefit CD - (Blue Note Records) Various Artists, "Here's to Life," The Jordan Family, track #13.
4. Out of This World - Kent Jordan, ( Funkshenal Art Media) "The Island"
Photos
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Bio
Jazz at Lincoln Center notes, "every so often a new voice stands up and proclaims itself, but few do so with such supreme depth and understated soul."
Stephanie Jordan's current show continues her trademark of singing jazz standards from the Big Band era, including highlights from the “Stephanie Jordan Sings a Tribute to Lena Horne” CD which honors the legendary Grammy Award winner and film star.
Jazz critic Ted Panken writes, “Great lyrics permeate this beautifully rendered homage, and Jordan has the skill sets to do them justice—a voice that projects from a whisper to a scream, fluid phrasing…. She finds fresh, unfailingly swinging approaches to this well-traveled repertoire, melding into a personal argot elements garnered from such distinguished mentors as Shirley Horn, Abbey Lincoln, Nancy Wilson—and Lena Horne herself—while sounding like no one other than Stephanie Jordan… Jordan’s sodium pentothal treatment—the truth WILL be told—is evocative of the magical phrasing of Shirley Horn.”
Stephanie Jordan, whom critics have placed in the company of Diana Krall and Dianne Reeves, began to receive noted prominence following the national televised Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina. “On that memorable night; none sang with greater authority or emotional resonance than Stephanie Jordan, who enthralled the packed house and a national PBS NPR audience of millions with an ascendant reading of “Here’s to Life.” Bill Milkowski of JazzTimes Magazine writes “Stephanie Jordan, a standout here, was the real discovery of the evening. Her haunting rendition of this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a depth of understated soul that mesmerized the crowd...Singing with a clarity of diction that recalled Nat “King” Cole.”
Jordan brought the concert to its climax with impeccable diction, dead-center pitch, and a personal point of view, acknowledging Horn’s antecedent version while drawing independent conclusions about tempo, phrasing, and dynamics. In the process, Jordan… revealed a fully evolved tonal personality, one that can be mentioned in a conversation about such distinguished mentors and influences as Horn, Abbey Lincoln, and Nancy Wilson.”
Just as she had ten years ago at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Stephanie Jordan helped frame the moment of the evening at "The Power of Community: Katrina 10 Commemoration" on August 29, 2015 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Jordan said "I am honored to have been asked by Mayor Landrieu to sing the classic tune "Home" from the Broadway musical "The Wiz" during the commemoration"
Jordan sang at the inaugural International Jazz Day presented by UNESCO which was celebrated by millions worldwide on 4/30/12 during an all-star sunrise concert in New Orleans' Congo Square that included jazz luminaries Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, Ellis Marsalis, and others.
Jordan has appears live on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, the Kennedy Center, Jazz Standard, Club Dizzy’s, Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland, St. Croix Blue Bay Jazz Fest, The Setai - South Beach Miami, Manship Theatre, Takoma Station, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Duke Ellington Festival, Chicago JazzFest Heritage, Glenwood Springs, Co., Adagio's Jazz Club, Hayti Heritage Center, Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club and is a regular at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Recognized internationally, the Sud Ouest French publication calls
her “unbelievably superb.” The Washingtonian Magazine labeled her
“JAZZHOT.”
Audix Microphones has dubbed her "Lady Jazz!"
Jordan is the 5th performer to emerge from a family of New Orleans bred musicians. As the daughter of saxophonist Edward "Kidd" Jordan, Stephanie's musical roots run deep; siblings include flutist Kent, trumpeter Marlon, and classical violinist Rachel Jordan. A graduate of Howard University, Stephanie is also a certified fitness instructor and creator of Jazz Pilates. Jordan is Choir Director and Vocal Instructor at a local elementary school.
Band Members
Links