One of the hippest 70s albums you could hope to find by Sheila Jordan – originally only issued in Japan! The set features Sheila singing with a small group that includes Norman Marnell on tenor, Alan Pasqua on piano, Cameron Brown on bass, and Beaver Harris on drums – and their mix of styles and directions gives the album a wide range of moods that aptly fits Sheila's enigmatic selection of tunes. The album features a slightly funky reading of the cut "Pearlie's Swine", which begins with a beautiful bassline from Brown – plus the tracks "Because We're Kids", "My Favorite Things", "Confirmation", "Why Was I Born", and "Inch Worm". CD

One of the only two vocal jazz albums that the Blue Note label recorded back in the day – and a haunting batch of tracks from a young Sheila Jordan! The style here is quite different than that of Jordan's later, more experimental records – and this early session shows her as an extremely talented young vocalist, with a unique approach that adds a sparkling modernist touch to familiar tunes – yet which still keeps things in a relatively more straightforward fashion. There's a great mixing of older and newer visions in the set – not just in Jordan's vocals, but also in the small combo backing by the trio of Barry Galbraith on guitar, Steve Swallow on bass, and Denzil Best on drums. Titles include great versions of "Baltimore Oriole", "Dat Dere", and "Hum Drum Blues" – plus the tunes "I'm A Fool To Want You", "Am I Blue", "Laugh Clown Laugh", and "Who Can I Turn To?". CD

One of the hippest albums ever recorded by Sheila Jordan – and that's saying a lot, given the strength of her work! The album's a set of spare duets recorded in Oslo with bassist Arild Andersen – in a setting that recalls some of the initial experimental work she'd done with Roswell Rudd, but with an even more spacious sound overall – one that lets Jordan dominate the tunes strongly with an amazing command of rhythm and timing! The approach is never too self-indulgent, and Andersen's warm tones on bass round out the tunes with a subtle sense of soul. Tunes are a mix of old standards and a few hipper 70s numbers – and include "Song Of Joy", "The Saga Of Harrison Crabfeathers", "On Green Dolphin Street", "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life", "The Lady", and "Better Than Anything". CD

Intimate live date with Sheila Jordan on vocals and Cameron Brown on bass! CD

With Kenny Barron on piano, Harvie Swartz on basss, and Ben Riley on drums. CD

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One of the last great recordings of Steve Kuhn's vocal songs – done live at Fat Tuesday's with Sheila Jordan singing with Kuhn's trio! The sound here takes us back to classic 70s sets by Monica Zetterlund and Karin Krog that feature Kuhn's lyrics – wonderfully-crafted words that were some of the freshest songwriting in vocal jazz back in the 70s, but which hardly ever got their due at the time. The setting here is a bit more sparse than some of those earlier albums – just trio instrumentation with Kuhn playing some incredibly fluid piano alongside Bob Moses on drums and Harvie Swartz on bass – but Jordan fills in all the space with her vocal readings of the tunes, really letting loose beautifully with a soaring, straight-ahead groove. About half the tracks on the set are instrumental, and titles include "Last Year's Waltz", "Turn To Gold", "Drinking Song", "The Fruit Fly", "The Feeling Within", and a version of Steve Swallow's "City Of Dallas". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautifully intimate setting for the vocal magic of Sheila Jordan – a singer we always seem to like even more in a live performance than we do in the studio! There's a special sort of charm to the way that Jordan delivers a tune – straighter in recent years than her modern experiments of the 70s, but still with an edge that often belies her sweeter look on the bandstand – and an understanding of both the underground songbook and the kind of more obscure, hipper jazz numbers that have always made her records so great. The recording preserves all the wit and warmth that Sheila can have on stage – and she's working here with Harvie S on bass and Alan Broadbent on piano – on titles that include "Bird Alone", "Blue In Green", "Baltimore Oriole", "Falling In Love With Love", "The Bird/Confirmation", and "Lucky To Be Me". CD

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Just Sheila Jordan on vocals and Harvie Swartz on bass! Tracks include "St. Thomas", "Alone Together", "In A Sentimental Mood", "Goodmorning Heartache", "You Don't Know What Love Is", and "Waltz For Debby". CD

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A brilliant record – much more straightforward, and straight ahead, than much of Rudd's other work, which is why we like it so much! The album's an ingeniously subtle affair – with Rudd on trombone and French horn, working with a small group that features Sheila Jordan on vocals, Hod O'Brien on piano, Arild Anderson on bass, and Barry Altschul on drums. Jordan is at the height of her powers here – singing beautifully in a wordless mode on tracks like "Maiden Voyage" and "Suh Blah Blah Bu Sibi", or straight and icy on one of the best versions of "What Are You Doing the Rest Of Your Life" that we've ever heard! Hod O'Brien is brilliant too – and the album's one of the few widely-released sessions to really display his talents! LP, Vinyl record album

George Russell was always committed to exploring new territory – as he proves well on this hard to find album cut for Riverside during the early 60s! Russell's surrounded himself here with some great younger and lesser-known players – including trumpeter Don Ellis, trombonist Garnett Brown, tenorist Paul Plummer, bassist Steve Swallow, and drummer Pete LaRoca – as well as vocalist Sheila Jordan, who joins the group on a strange extended version of "You Are My Sunshine". The set contains 2 other loopy originals by Russell – "The Outer View" and "DC Divertimento" – as well as versions of Carla Bley's "Zig Zag" and Charlie Parker's "Au Prive". CD

A rare Japanese-only album from trombonist Roswell Rudd – one of his few full length statements of genius from the mid 70s! The album's got a very collaborative feel overall – one that takes off from some of Rudd's better-known work of the "new thing" era, but opens things up tremendously with more of a relaxed loft jazz sort of approach. Players shift somewhat throughout the set, and the instrumentation mixes Rudd's work on trombone and percussion with soprano sax from Steve Lacy, trumpet from Enrico Rava, voice from Sheila Jordan, tenor from Tyrone Washington, and electric piano from Patti Brown. There's a deeply personal vibe to the whole record, one that reminds us a bit of the spirit of Rudd's great Flexible Flyer album – and titles include "You Blew It", "Blues For The Planet Earth", "Cement Blues", "Bethesda Fountain", "Street Walking", and "Blown Bone". CD also features one more bonus track – the beautiful "Long Hope", recorded in 1967 with Karl Berger on vibes, Robin Kenyatta on alto sax, Lewis Worrell on bass, and Horacee Arnold on drums. CD

The revival of Roswell Rudd's career is easily one of the best things to happen in jazz in the past 10 years – especially when he keeps coming up with fresh material like this! The album's a nice change from Rudd's recent experiments in world jazz territory – and features vocalist Sunny Kim on most tracks, working with Roswell at a level that almost reminds us of his 70s experiments with Sheila Jordan! Kim's got a style that's not unlike Jordan at times – rooted in older jazz traditions, but always taking odd little turns that keep things fresh. And given that the rest of the instrumentation is pretty spare – just angular piano from Lafayette Harris and bass from Bradley Jones – there's plenty of interplay between Rudd's trombone and Kim's voice. Titles include "Loved By Love", "I Look In The Mirror", "I'm Gone Sane", "Suh Blah Blah Buh Sibi", "Whatever Turns You On Baby", and "You Blew It". CD

A free-thinking and spiritual session from Italian bassist Marcello Melis – recorded right at the height of his late 70s powers! The album's a richly collaborative effort – one that draws strongly from contributions by players who include Lester Bowie and Enrico Rava on trumpets, George Lewis and Gary Valente on trombones, Don Pullen on piano, and Nana Vasconcelos and Don Moye on percussion. Fred Hopkins adds on some extra bass next to Melis – and the album also features great vocals from both Sheila Jordan and Jeanne Lee. The tracks are all quite long and collaborative – and build sound out of space through the careful use of each player – allowing their voices to rise together in power, then breaking out beautifully with different thematic moments. Titles include "Before The Lights Go On", "Struggle To Be", and "Free To Dance". CD

George Russell was always committed to exploring new territory – as he proves well on this hard to find album cut for Riverside during the early 60s! Russell's surrounded himself here with some great younger and lesser-known players – including trumpeter Don Ellis, trombonist Garnett Brown, tenorist Paul Plummer, bassist Steve Swallow, and drummer Pete LaRoca – as well as vocalist Sheila Jordan, who joins the group on a strange extended version of "You Are My Sunshine". The set contains 2 other loopy originals by Russell – "The Outer View" and "DC Divertimento" – as well as versions of Carla Bley's "Zig Zag" and Charlie Parker's "Au Prive". LP, Vinyl record album

A real standout in the classic catalog of ECM – not only because the record's got a slightly different inspiration than most, but also because it seems to unlock some especially beautiful moments from players who could sound different in other settings on the label! As the title indicates, the tunes here all take inspiration from the poetry of Robert Creeley – but never in a mode that's got the usual jazz meets poetry approach – as Sheila Jordan sings the lyrics when they appear, with a sense of her own power that's very different than a more standard recitation – and which, to us, really feels a lot like her great vocal performances with Steve Kuhn for ECM. Kuhn is also in the group on piano, and other musicians include David Liebman on saxes, Lyle Mays on keyboards, and Bob Moses on drums – all working under the superb leadership of bassist Steve Swallow – who really outdid himself with the depth of feeling in this project. Titles include "Colors", "In The Fall", "She Was Young", "Some Echoes", "Ice Cream", and "You Didn't Think". LP, Vinyl record album

Yukimi on piano and Harvie S on bass with special guest Sheila Jordan on one track. CD

13 songs from Rachelle Ferrell, Bobby McFerrin, Caecilie Norby, Sheila Jordan, Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling, Cassandra Wilson, Carmen McRae, Marlena Shaw, and Holly Cole. CD

Incredible early work from vocalist Karin Krog – a mid 60s session, but one that already shows that she was thinking farther than most other singers of the time! The timings on the tunes are quite unusual – a bit like those used by Sheila Jordan in the 60s, but often even more personally pointed – in a way that makes even familiar tunes come across as if they're spontaneous expressions by Krog. Karin's working here with beautiful small combo backing from a quartet that includes Jan Garbarek on tenor, Kenny Drew on piano, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Jon Christensen on drums – but the album's also arranged in a wonderful way that often has the vocals hanging out there alone, beautifully unsupported. Titles include "Body & Soul", "All Of You", "Dearly Beloved", "I Got Your Number", "Old Folks", "I Can't Get Started", and "Glad To Be Unhappy". CD

A pair of early albums from Tommy Roe – back to back on a single CD! First up is Sheila – the full length debut of Tommy Roe – and a set that already shows his strong ability to put over a catchy tune! The title hit is an unabashed ripoff of the Buddy Holly sound, but the overall record has a lot more going on – with some cool Nashville production handled by Felton Jarvis, and backing vocals at many points by The Jordanaires! The set is the sort that was more likely coming from Cali labels like Liberty or Imperial at the time – and the mix of west coast pop, Nashville twang, and the range of material makes for a really cool package that's full of surprises. Titles include "Piddle De Pat", "Sheila", "Little Hollywood Girl", "Look At Me", "Blue Ghost", "Think About The Good Things", and "There Will Be Better Years". Everybody Likes Tommy Roe is a re-titled version of the album Something For Everybody – issued here under it's UK cover and title. The set's got Tommy Roe furthering that Cali pop style that was showing up in his music from the start – a bit of a surprise for a singer from Atlanta, and still handled here by Nashville producer Felton Jarvis – but with lots of the jaunty guitars and groovy styles that were breaking big out of the LA studios at the time! Titles include "Switchie Witchie Titchie", "Everybody", "Katy Did", "Sensations", "Standing Watch", and "Why Do You Make Me Cry". CD