Sheila Jordan and Roswell Rudd Birthday Celebrations Nov. 17-18 at the Iridium Jazz Club

Nov. 17-18 SHEILA JORDAN (79) AND ROSWELL RUDD (72) BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS!

Lafayette Harris - piano; Cameron Brown - bass; Barry Altschul - drums
PLUS GUESTS

Sunday Guests:
Jay CLAYTON
Theo BLACKMAN
Katie BULL

Sheila Jordan (Nov 18, 1928, Detroit, MI) and Roswell Rudd (Nov 17, 1935, Sharon, CT) have a long history of performing and recording together dating back to their collaboration on the Black Lion recording Flexible Flyer. In 1975 they toured Europe and also recorded on Rudd's Numatik Swing Band, (JCOA Records, 1973) and Blown Bone, (Phillips, 1976) and then again in 1999 for Broad Strokes (Knitting Factory).

Jordan moved to New York in the 1950s, was married to Duke Jordan (1952-62), studied with Lennie Tristano, and worked in New York clubs. George Russell used her on an unusual recording of “You Are My Sunshine" and she became one of the few singers to lead her own Blue Note album (1962). However, it would be a decade before she appeared on records again, working with Carla Bley, Roswell Rudd, and co-leading a group with Steve Kuhn in the late '70s. Sheila is the recipient of numerous awards, most recently the 2008 Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz for Lifetime of Service.

Roswell Rudd went straight from being a tailgate trombonist in a Dixieland band to co-founding the ultra avant-garde New York Art Quartet, with very few stops in between.

Rudd exploited the trombone's natural proclivities to the fullest. In his hands, the horn became less a note-playing machine than a kind of human-powered analog synthesizer. His collaborations with Archie Shepp, Steve Lacy, Carla Bley and Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra are well-documented on record. In 2000 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in composition. In 2003, 2004, and 2005 he was voted Trombonist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. His new Quartet for trombone, piano, bass and vocals recently premiered at the Newport Jazz Festival.

Of their birthday collaboration, Sheila Jordan says, “Roswell Rudd is my favorite trombone player ever and also one of my very favorite human beings--kind, gentle, caring, funny and a great creative musician. It is an honor to work with him. I feel Roswell and I connect spiritually and soulfully. What a great birthday present to do music with Roswell."

And Roswell says, “We have a 47-year connection and I feel fortunate and excited about these two nights coming up at the Iridium. Knowing Sheila Jordan since 1960, I've always considered her the greatest living jazz singer."

They will perform some of the songs they have recorded over the years, as well as drawing from the rich repertory of standards which they both love.