Artist: Sheila Jordan

Sheila Jordan is an American jazz singer and songwriter.

She has recorded as a session musician with an array of critically acclaimed artists in addition to recording her own albums. Jordan pioneered a bebop and scat jazz singing style with an upright bass as the only accompaniment. Jordan's music has earned praise from many critics, particularly for her ability to improvise lyrics; Scott Yanow describes her as "one of the most consistently creative of all jazz singers."  Charlie Parker often introduced Jordan as "the lady with the million dollar ears." 

Jordan sang and played piano in jazz clubs in Detroit. She was a member of the trio Skeeter, Mitch, and Jean (Skeeter Spight, Leroi Mitchell, and Jordan was "Jean"), which wrote lyrics to music by Charlie Parker. They went to Parker's performances in Detroit, met him, and he would ask them to sing. 

In 1951, Jordan moved to New York City and studied harmony and music theory  with Lennie Tristano and  Charles Mingus, but she concentrated on the music of Charlie Parker. Jordan and Parker became friends before his death in 1955. She refers to him as one of her teachers. From 1952–1962, she was married to Duke Jordan, who played piano in Parker's band. 

In a 2012 interview with JazzWax, when asked why she moved to New York, Jordan said, "I guess I was chasin' the Bird [Parker]." When asked if the song "Chasin' the Bird" was written for her, she replied, "No. I don't know how that rumor got started." 

In the early 1960s, Jordan performed at the Page Three Club in Greenwich Village with pianist Herbie Nichols, and at other bars and clubs in New York City. For much of the 1960s, she withdrew from clubs to raise her daughter, and she sang in church instead. She was a typist and legal secretary for twenty years with little time to concentrate on music until the age of 58. 

In 1962, she worked with George Russell, with whom she recorded the song, "You Are My Sunshine" on his album The Outer View (Riverside). Later that year she recorded the album Portrait of Sheila which was released by Blue Note. Her long working relationship with Steve Kuhn began in the early 1960s. She also played with Don Heckman (1967–68), Lee Konitz  (1972), and Roswell Rudd (1972–75). 

In 1974, Jordan was Artist in Residence at City College of New York and taught there from 1978–2005. In 2006, she was presented the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) Lifetime Achievement Award and celebrated 28 years as an Adjunct Professor of Music. She has taught at  University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the  Vermont Jazz Center, InterplayJazz and Arts, as well as teaching international workshops. 

On July 12, 1975, she recorded Confirmation. One year later she released the duet album Sheila, with  Arild Andersen for SteepleChase. In 1979, she founded a quartet with Steve Kuhn, Harvie S, and Bob Moses. During the 1980s, she worked with Harvie S as a duo and played on several records with him. Until 1987 she worked in an advertising agency and recorded Lost and Found in 1989.