“Setting the New Jazz Standard”

 

"Local chanteuse Stephanie Jordan set the anthem on a slow burn Sunday night (Feb 17, 2008), delivering the most smoldering rendition of the song since Marvin Gaye performed it at another NBA All-Star Game more than 20 years ago... Another blazing light in our constellation” writes Chris Rose

 

Selected for the cover of the World’s Who’s Who in Jazz; “SHOWBIZ, PIONEERS, BEST SINGERS, ENTERTAINERS AND MUSICIANS FROM 1606 TO THE PRESENT,”  the London Monthly Herald declares, “Ms. Stephanie Jordan in her silk green dress catches your eyes. She reminds me of the flashy dashy days of Josephine Baker at the Lido in Paris, the author referred to her as “The classy lady of modern Jazz!”

 

The Washington Post boasts of her Kennedy Center performance, “Contributing intimate and thoroughly enjoyable interludes were . . .  Stephanie Jordan, who performed with a quartet that featured her brother Marlon on trumpet. A poised, soulfully articulate vocalist, Jordan turned in a performance that warmly evoked the influence of Abbey Lincoln, Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae and other jazz greats.”

 

Following the national televised Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert, Bill Milkowski of JazzTimes Magazine writes “Stephanie Jordan, a standout here, was the real discovery of the evening.  Her haunting rendition of (Here’s to Life) this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a dept of understated soul that mesmerized the crowd and registered to the back rows.  Singing with a clarity of diction that recalled Nat “King” Cole . . .”

 

“After Hurricane Katrina, an extraordinary cohort of singers-among them, in no particular order, Shirley Caesar, Aaron and Arthur Neville, Cassandra Wilson, Diane Reeves, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, James Taylor, and Bette Midler-convened at the Rose Theatre to perform a benefit relief concert for the victims of the catastrophic.  On that memorable night; none sang with greater authority or emotional resonance than Stephanie Jordan, who enthralled the packed house and a national PBS NPR audience of millions with an ascendant reading of “Here’s To Life.”  Framed by her siblings Marlon (trumpet), Kent (flute), and Rachel (violin), each, like their sister, a native New Orleanian newly uprooted from their home.  Jordan brought the concert to its climax, rendering the Phyllis Molinary lyric-an instant classic when the late Shirley Horn recorded it in 1991—with impeccable diction, dead-center pitch, and a personal point of view, acknowledging Horn’s antecedent version while drawing independent conclusions about tempo, phrasing, and dynamics.  In the process, Jordan… revealed a fully evolved tonal personality, one that can be mentioned in a conversation about such distinguished mentors and influences as Horn, Abbey Lincoln, and Nancy Wilson.” (Ted Panken / Jazz at Lincoln Center Playbill)

 

The Here’s to Life track is one of the selected songs on Blue Note Records’ Higher Ground CD. Jordan is scheduled to perform with the Lionel Hampton Big Band during the Official Lionel Hampton Centennial Birthday Celebration on April 19, 2008.

 

Jazz at Lincoln Center notes, "every so often a new voice stands up and proclaims itself, but few do so with such supreme depth and understated soul."  Her four shows in October 2006 during Jazz at Lincoln Center's "Singers Over Manhattan" series left them wanting for more.

 

Stephanie and Marlon Jordan embark during the fall of 2005 as ‘Jazz Ambassadors’ on a European Tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and Jazz at Lincoln Center to thank the people of Europe for their support of New Orleans and the Gulf Region following Hurricane Katrina.  The countries included Bucharest, Germany, Lithuania and Ukraine.

 

Gambit Weekly Music declares, "Stephanie Jordan is a lady with a great set of pipes. Anyone who has ever romanced their honey to Johnny Adams's moody, lounge-lizard smoky vocals on 'You Don't Know What Love Is' will thrill to Stephanie's silk-between-the-fingers treatment of that song, the title cut."  All About Jazz adds, “Her tone is crisp, perfect, but not in that polished way that sounds like an opera singer attempting jazz.  She is more like a master of technique, yet with plenty of soul.”

 

Jazz critic Sandy Ingram writes “She’s a singer with poise and pizzazz, with a voice and an appealing look that bring to mind Carmen McRae and Lena Horn.”  Stephanie's lyrical style has also been compared to Norah Jones and Diana Krall, while others say it’s more like living legends Cassandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves. 

 

Ms. Jordan performed the national anthem along side Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis and guitarist Jonathan Dubose at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans.  She has appeared live on NPR Talk of the Nation, the Kennedy Center, Jazz Standard New York, Central Park, Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland, St. Croix Blue Bay Jazz Fest, Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge, Duke Ellington Festival, Washington, D.C., Chicago JazzFest Heritage, Glenwood Springs, Co., the New Orleans Ladies of Jazz, Adagio's Jazz Club in Savannah, Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, Sweet Lorraine's in New Orleans and is a regular at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.  Jordan has been inducted as a member of the New Orleans Magazine Jazz All-Stars for 2008.

 

Stephanie has opened for NaJee, Roy Ayres, and Howard Hewitt.  She has collaborated with her sister, Rachel in a fully staged concert with strings from the Louisiana Philharmonic and her Jazz Quintet entitled “Stephanie with Strings.”  A version of this performance featuring her brother, Kent was repeated with the Alabama Symphony. She has performed with the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra during Jazzmobile’s “Great Jazz on the Great Hill” in Central Park, New York.

 

Stephanie made her debut at Takoma Station Jazz Club.  She joined the Doug Carne Band in an unrehearsed rendition of “I Remember April.”  Within a few months she developed a loyal following and became much sought after.  She has performed at many of the Washington, D.C. jazz haunts such as Twins Jazz Lounge, Blues Alley, and Carter Baron Amphitheater.  Stephanie has also appeared at the opening of the Schomburg Center of the New York Public Library, Langston Hughes Auditorium in New York City, the Marciac Jazz Festival in France, and Jazz Aspen.  She accepted an extended engagement at “The Palace” Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey and upon her return became a regular-featured performer at Harrah’s Casino in New Orleans.  Recognized internationally, the Sud Ouest French publication calls her “unbelievably superb.”

 

The Washingtonian Magazine labeled her “JAZZHOT.” 

 

In 1995 Stephanie Jordan performed the title soundtrack "Season's Start" in the Tribecca Film release of Café Society staring Lara Flynn Boyle and Peter Gallagher.

 

Ms. Jordan is the fifth performer to emerge from a family of New Orleans bred musicians. As the daughter of saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan, Stephanie’s musical roots run deep.

 

www.StephanieJordan.com