Stephanie Jordan

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."

Stephanie Jordan's current show continues her signature trademark of singing jazz standards from the Big Band era. It includes highlights from her self-produced debut CD on her Vige Music label; “Stephanie Jordan Sings A Tribute to the Fabulous Lena Horne; Yesterday When I Was Young” which honors the legendary Grammy Award winner who starred in many films.

Stephanie Jordan performed as the featured singer during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Gala which included the presence of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama; she was selected to sing to Stevie Wonder during the National Urban League’s 2012 National Conference, and also performed at the private celebration ‘Oprah Winfrey and Friends of Susan Taylor’ in honor of Susan Taylor's years of service to Essence magazine.

About her debut CD, jazz critic Ted Panken writes, “Great lyrics permeate this beautifully rendered homage, and Jordan has the skill sets to do them justice—a voice that projects from a whisper to a scream, impeccable diction, dead-center pitch, fluid phrasing. Backed by a breathe-as-one 8-piece unit of top-shelf New Orleanians that sounds twice its size, and counterstated by a cohort of virtuoso soloists, she finds fresh, unfailingly swinging approaches to this well-traveled repertoire, melding into a personal argot elements garnered from such distinguished mentors as Shirley Horn, Abbey Lincoln, Nancy Wilson—and Lena Horne herself—while sounding like no one other than Stephanie Jordan… Jordan’s sodium pentothal treatment—the truth WILL be told—is evocative of the magical phrasing of Shirley Horn.”

Stephanie Jordan, whom critics have placed in the company of Diana Krall and Dianne Reeves, began to receive noted prominence following the national televised Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina. “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.” Bill Milkowski of JazzTimes Magazine writes “Stephanie Jordan, a standout here, was the real discovery of the evening. Her haunting rendition of this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a depth of understated soul that mesmerized the crowd and registered to the back rows. Singing with a clarity of diction that recalled Nat “King” Cole . . .”

Jordan brought the concert to its climax 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.”

Jordan’s concert with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble at the Harris Theater where she served as a late minute replacement for Grammy Award-winning singer Ledisi led Chicago Tribune’s leading art critic Howard Reich to proclaim, “The woman can sing and indisputably knows how to reach out across the footlights . . . Jordan showed ample voice, bringing heft to music of the Gershwins and Cole Porter without pushing volume levels. Clearly she values plush sound and knows how to produce it.”

Jordan appeared in and performed in Lee Daniels’ “The Paperboy” which co-stars Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, and John Cusack.

On her performance at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game with Branford Marsalis, columnist Chris Rose wrote, "Local chanteuse Stephanie Jordan set the anthem on a slow burn Sunday night, 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”

Jordan sang at the inaugural International Jazz Day presented by UNESCO in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which was celebrated by millions worldwide on April 30, 2012 during an all-star sunrise concert in New Orleans' Congo Square that included jazz luminaries Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, Ellis Marsalis, and others.

Stephanie has shared billings with Norman Connors, NaJee, Roy Ayres, Wes Anderson, and Howard Hewitt and has been featured with the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra during Jazzmobile’s “Great Jazz on the Great Hill” in Central Park, the Lionel Hampton Big Band Official Centennial Birthday Celebration and others.

Jordan has appeared live on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, the Kennedy Center, Jazz Standard, Club Dizzy’s, Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland, St. Croix Blue Bay Jazz Fest, The Setai - South Beach Miami, Manship Theatre, Takoma Station, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Duke Ellington Festival, Chicago JazzFest Heritage, Glenwood Springs, Co., Adagio's Jazz Club, Hayti Heritage Center, Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club and is a regular at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Jordan is a member of the New Orleans Magazine’s Jazz All-Stars.

Recognized internationally, the Sud Ouest French publication calls her “unbelievably superb.” The Washingtonian Magazine labeled her “JAZZHOT.” Audix Microphones has dubbed her "Lady Jazz!"

All About Jazz adds, “Her tone is crisp, perfect, but not in that polished way that sounds like an opera singer attempting jazz…” Jazz critic Sandy Ingram writes “a singer with poise and pizzazz, with a voice and an appealing look that bring to mind Carmen McRae and Lena Horn.”

In addition to these accolades Ms. Jordan was awarded 1st prize in the "Billie Holliday Competition" in Baltimore, Maryland. 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. Siblings include flutist Kent Jordan, trumpeter Marlon Jordan, and violinist Rachel Jordan.

Awards

New Orleans Magazine Jazz All-Stars for 2008. World's Who's Who in Jazz; "Showbiz, Pioneers, Best Singers, Entertainmers and Musicians from 1606 to the Present"

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"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. (The Times-Picayune)

The Washington Post boast of her May 12, 2007 Kennedy Center performance, "Contributing intimate and thoroughly enjoyable interludes were . . . New Orleans-bred vocalist 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." (Mike Joyce, The Washington Post, 5/14/07, pC05)

Standards Get Fresher; Singers Over Manhattan Series [- Hide] By Ted Panken / Jazz at Lincoln Center Playbill NEW YORK, NY (10-20-2006) — Last September 17th, a fortnight 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��"until her late twenties, her only singing was around the house, and she did not make a record until 2005��"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.

JAZZTIMES Magazine - Bill Milkowski "Another renowned New Orleans family, the Jordans, escaped Katrina, dispersed to different cities and reunited at this Higher Ground benefit. Featuring Marlon on trumpet, Kent on flute, Rachel on violin and Stephanie on vocals accompanied by LCJO members . . . , the children of New Orleans tenor sax titan and educator Kidd Jordan delighted the Rose Theater crowd with an affecting rendition of "Here's to Life."

Singer Stephanie Jordan, a standout here, was the real discovery of the evening. Her haunting rendition of this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a depth of understated soul that mesmerized the crowd and registered to the back rows. Singing with a clarity of diction that recalled Nat "King" Cole, she offered an uplifting message of hope in her heartfelt reading . . . "

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