Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sheila Jordan was born Sheila Jeanette Dawson on November 18, 1928 in Detroit, Michigan but grew up in Summerhill, Pennsylvania. By the age of 28 she returned to Detroit and began playing piano and singing semi-professionally in jazz clubs. She worked a trio that composed lyrics to Charlie Parker’s arrangements, who influenced her greatly.
In 1951, she moved to New York and started studying harmony and music theory with Lennie Tristano and Charles Mingus and married pianist Duke Jordan a year later. By the 60s she was gigging and doing session work in Greenwich Village and around town in various clubs; and in 1962 was discovered and recorded by George Russell on his album The Outer View. That led to her recording Portrait of Sheila in 1962 that was sold to Blue Note.
Over the next decade Sheila withdrew from music, supported herself as a legal secretary but by the mid 70s was working again with musicians like Don Heckman, Roswell Rudd, Lee Konitz and Steve Kuhn. She has had a notable career as a solo artist since then with her ability to improvise entire lyrics, although success has been limited.
Jordan has been an Artist In Residence teaching at City College, worked in an advertising agency, recorded for Steeplechase, ECM, Home Eastwind, Grapevine, Palo Alto, Blackhawk and Muse record labels. She has performed and recorded with George Gruntz, Steve Swallow, Carla Bley, Harvie Swartz and Bob Moses among others and as a songwriter continues to work in both bebop and free jazz mediums.
Give The Gift Of Knowledge
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Julie Lyon was born on November 17, 1969 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but grew up in Florida where she studied classical voice and received her degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Central Florida.
After college Julie started her musical career singing with different Top-40, Rock, Blues and Country bands until meeting her husband, drummer Tom Cabrera, and then turned to jazz.
Following her passion Lyon has recorded two albums, “Beginning To See The Light” and “ Live: Between Then And Now” and has since become a regular on the Park Avenue scene in Winter Park. An Orlando area staple, she performs regularly at Club Swank, Harvey’s Bistro, Fiddlers Green and The Citrus Club among others.
Pulling up stakes she moved with her husband to New York and continues to perform with her quartet/quintet in jazz clubs and appear at annual festivals. The vocalist and lyricist also composes, arranges and improvises her style through her original and standard catalogue of music.
Take A Dose On The Road
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Dolo Coker was born Charles Mitchell Coker on November 16, 1927 in Hartford, Connecticut but was raised in Florence, South Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first musical instruments Coker played in childhood were the C-melody and alto saxophones, learning them at a school. By age thirteen he was starting to play piano and after moving to Philadelphia he studied piano at the Landis School of Music and at Orenstein’s Conservatory.
During his Philadelphia years Coker played piano with Jimmy Heath, then became a member of Frank Morgan’s quartet, but it wasn’t until 1976 that he recorded as a leader. Signing with Xanadu Records he cut four albums and worked extensively as a sideman for Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Lou Donaldson, Art Pepper, Philly Joe Jones and Dexter Gordon.
For the next several years pianist Dolo Coker continued to work as a sideman until he passed away of cancer at the age of fifty-five on April 13, 1983.
Dose A Day – Blues Away
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Hollywood On 52nd Street
Three Coins in the Fountain is a popular song, music written by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn for the 1954 romantic comedy film of the same name. Starring Clifton Webb, Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters Louis Jordan, Rossano Brazzi and Maggie McNamara, the title song was sung by an un-credited Frank Sinatra and went on to become an enduring standard with perpetual encores by jazz musicians. It won an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 27th Academy Awards in 1955.
The Story: Three American women working in Rome dream of finding romance in the Eternal City. That dream is fueled by their belief in the magic of throwing coins into the Trevi Fountain and making a wish.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Roland Guerin was born on November 15, 1968 into a musical family, first learning music from his bass playing mother. Her sage wisdom taught him that you can’t make it in music without a strong groove and feeling.
While studying marketing at Southern University in Baton Rouge he joined legendary jazz educator Alvin Batiste’s band, The Jazztronauts. Following this stint he toured the world with jazz guitarist Mark Whitfield and during this period he further explored the jazz genre in which he found success.
While exploring his spiritual side, Guerin created a new instrument – a hollow-bodied acoustic six string bass guitar that enabled him to write music for an entire spectrum of genres including pop, rock, R&B, classical, folk, and country.
Roland made his debut as a bandleader in 1998 with his acclaimed “The Winds of the New Land”, and then released four successful albums in the next decade. From 1994 to 2010 Roland was a member of the Marcus Roberts Trio, also regularly enhanced by symphony orchestras.
He would go on to perform with George Benson, Jimmy Scott, Frank Morgan, Vernel Fournier, Gerry Mulligan, Brian Blade, John Scofield, Herlin Riley and Dr. Michael White while recording with Ellis Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, and Allen Toussaint among others.
When he is not touring around the world, Roland is very active on the New Orleans music scene, and has released his last album “A Different World” in 2011.
Inspire A Young Mind
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