SHEILA JORDAN - Comes Love: Lost Session 1960
Capri Records CAPRI 74164-2
Sheila Jordan (vocals); unknown piano, bass & drums
Recorded June 10, 1960
Sheila Jordan is a phenomenon, one of those captivating performers that never fails to deliver. With the release of her debut album in 1963, Portrait Of Sheila on Blue Note records it was immediately apparent that here was a major song stylist. So much so that Jordan was able to retreat from the music scene to focus on raising her daughter, and not releasing another recording under her own name for more than a dozen years.
Her return to regular performance and recording in the 1970s revealed that she was still the adventurous and creative artist that had recorded Portraits, and was able to pick up and develop her unique style even further. The sheer musicality and brilliance of Portrait Of Sheila has ensured its place as one of the key vocal albums in the history of the music, and giving the impression of her having arrived as a complete and fully formed artist. However, with the release of the remarkable album the story jumps back a couple of years to Jordan's first recording session under her own name. Now it is finally seeing the light of day we can once again marvel at the wonder that is Sheila Jordan, and build a clearer picture of events leading up to the Blue Note recording.
Why the music was not released at the time is a matter of conjecture, and we can only be grateful to record dealers Jeremy Sloan and Hadley Kinslow of SloLow Records, who discovered this record among a large collection of acetates that they purchased, and for making it available to Capri Records for release. With no identifying label on the acetate, or the album packaging there is much that remains unknown about the recording. Sixties years on Sheila herself has no recollection of the session, or the musicians who participated, and hearing their music for the first time after all these years is quite a revelation.
If Sheila's primary influences are clear to hear, she also has the ability to process and transcend the source and her own inimitable style is what one immediately hears. Her involvement with bebop and her love of the music of Charlie Parker is never far away, but this is unmistakably Jordan's date. She swings hard on a wonderful run through 'I'll Take Romance' and makes Duke's 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) her own with her remarkable ability to scat. Having said that, it is the ballads that take make the hairs on the back of the neck stand up. Sounding so young, she brings such emotion to her reading of 'These Foolish Things', and has a firm grasp on the implication of what she's singing on 'Ballad Of The Sad Young Men' for someone so young. The poignancy and inevitable sense of resignation on 'I'm The Girl' is heart wrenching yet an absolute joy to listen to. Even at this early stage, Sheila is looking to push the boundaries and herself. Her use of intervals, the way she bends notes, and the purity of her tone all point to new discoveries, and the way she holds long notes at the end of a phrase will bring you out in goose bumps. Quite simply, this is a major discovery and a historically important recording that sheds further light on a truly remarkable and original artist.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Capri Records CAPRI 74164-2
Sheila Jordan (vocals); unknown piano, bass & drums
Recorded June 10, 1960
Sheila Jordan is a phenomenon, one of those captivating performers that never fails to deliver. With the release of her debut album in 1963, Portrait Of Sheila on Blue Note records it was immediately apparent that here was a major song stylist. So much so that Jordan was able to retreat from the music scene to focus on raising her daughter, and not releasing another recording under her own name for more than a dozen years.
Her return to regular performance and recording in the 1970s revealed that she was still the adventurous and creative artist that had recorded Portraits, and was able to pick up and develop her unique style even further. The sheer musicality and brilliance of Portrait Of Sheila has ensured its place as one of the key vocal albums in the history of the music, and giving the impression of her having arrived as a complete and fully formed artist. However, with the release of the remarkable album the story jumps back a couple of years to Jordan's first recording session under her own name. Now it is finally seeing the light of day we can once again marvel at the wonder that is Sheila Jordan, and build a clearer picture of events leading up to the Blue Note recording.
Why the music was not released at the time is a matter of conjecture, and we can only be grateful to record dealers Jeremy Sloan and Hadley Kinslow of SloLow Records, who discovered this record among a large collection of acetates that they purchased, and for making it available to Capri Records for release. With no identifying label on the acetate, or the album packaging there is much that remains unknown about the recording. Sixties years on Sheila herself has no recollection of the session, or the musicians who participated, and hearing their music for the first time after all these years is quite a revelation.
If Sheila's primary influences are clear to hear, she also has the ability to process and transcend the source and her own inimitable style is what one immediately hears. Her involvement with bebop and her love of the music of Charlie Parker is never far away, but this is unmistakably Jordan's date. She swings hard on a wonderful run through 'I'll Take Romance' and makes Duke's 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) her own with her remarkable ability to scat. Having said that, it is the ballads that take make the hairs on the back of the neck stand up. Sounding so young, she brings such emotion to her reading of 'These Foolish Things', and has a firm grasp on the implication of what she's singing on 'Ballad Of The Sad Young Men' for someone so young. The poignancy and inevitable sense of resignation on 'I'm The Girl' is heart wrenching yet an absolute joy to listen to. Even at this early stage, Sheila is looking to push the boundaries and herself. Her use of intervals, the way she bends notes, and the purity of her tone all point to new discoveries, and the way she holds long notes at the end of a phrase will bring you out in goose bumps. Quite simply, this is a major discovery and a historically important recording that sheds further light on a truly remarkable and original artist.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
