Sheila Jordan and Steve Kuhn at Vermont Jazz Center

Hailed by many as the queen of bebop, innovative singer Sheila Jordan exemplifies the vocal expression of jazz in all its forms. Drawing her most prominent influence from her friend and "big brother" Charlie Parker, her voice wends through melody like the wind instrument it fundamentally is, leaping intervals, sliding about scales and manipulating dynamics like a master saxophonist. Yet her treatment of lyrics is always deep and graceful, and whether she's singing the words of others or improvising her own--such as to the melodies of Bird, as only she can--her vocal strokes become the finishing touch of a musical masterpiece....

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Hailed by many as the queen of bebop, innovative singer Sheila Jordan exemplifies the vocal expression of jazz in all its forms. Drawing her most prominent influence from her friend and "big brother" Charlie Parker, her voice wends through melody like the wind instrument it fundamentally is, leaping intervals, sliding about scales and manipulating dynamics like a master saxophonist. Yet her treatment of lyrics is always deep and graceful, and whether she's singing the words of others or improvising her own--such as to the melodies of Bird, as only she can--her vocal strokes become the finishing touch of a musical masterpiece.

The VJC applauds Sheila Jordan for her 2011 NEA Jazz Master Award. Assisting in the artistic effort is Jordan's longtime collaborator and legendary jazz pianist Steve Kuhn. The onetime sideman with John Coltrane's quartet has for decades led pioneering jazz ensembles with such luminaries as Steve Swallow, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette and, since the 1970s, Sheila Jordan, among many others.

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