Note: This episode originally aired in November 2023. 

Vocalist Sheila Jordan, who died this week at the age of 96, was the definition of a living jazz legend. She mingled and performed with Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus, Lennie Tristano and Max Roach, to name a few. She was one of the first singers to appear on Blue Note Records. And her imagination brought the unusual format of voice and bass to the forefront, making it a thing.

Her journey in jazz began when she was only 14 years old. She heard Charlie Parker’s “Now’s The Time” on the jukebox while growing up in Detroit and never looked back. Bird became a lifelong obsession. In her 90s, she wanted to make sure the Bird lived on, along with jazz itself.

“Support the music until it can support you,” she said. “And you know what? It might never support you, but if you love it, you’ll keep doing it because you won’t want to give it up.”

Certainly, Jordan had experienced her fair share of ups and downs during her life and storied career. As a child, she grew up in poverty, and while she pursued her dreams in music, she needed to have hustles on the side. But she kept at it.

“I had to sing. I just had to do it,” she told Jazz Night In America host Christian McBride. The music always kept her going.

Listen to their conversation on this episode of Jazz Night in America.

Set List:

• “Falling in Love with Love” (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart), from the album Portrait of Sheila (Blue Note Records)
• “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” (Irving Berlin), from the album Portrait of Sheila (Blue Note Records)
• “Confirmation” (Charlie Parker, Skeeter Spight, Leroy Mitchell), from the album Better Than Anything (Live) (There Records)
• “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” (Duke Ellington), from the album Comes Love: Lost Session 1960 (Capri Records)
• “You Are My Sunshine” (Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell), from George Russell’s album The Outer View (Riverside Records)
• “Dat Dere” (Bobby Timmons), from the album Portrait of Sheila (Blue Note Records) 
• “Better Than Anything” (Bill Loughborough, David “Buck” Wheat), with Arild Andersen, from the album Sheila (SteepleChase Records)
• “Lazy Afternoon” (Jerome Moross, John La Touche), with Harvie S, from the album Yesterdays (HighNote Records)
• “Reel Time” (Chris Lee), from the album Jazz Child (HighNote Records)
• “Sheila’s Blues” (Sheila Jordan) from the album Detroit Jazz City (Blue Note Records)

Credits:

Sarah Geledi, writer and producer; Christian McBride, host; Ron Scalzo, episode mix; Suraya Mohamed, project manager; Keith Jenkins, vice president of visuals and strategy at NPR Music. Gabrielle Armand and Anya Grundmann, executive producers.