Raised in poverty in Pennsylvania’s coal-mining country, Jordan began singing as a child and by the time she was in her early teens was working semi-professionally in Detroit clubs. Her first great influence was Charlie Parker and indeed, most of her influences have been instrumentalists rather than singers. Working chiefly with black musicians, she was initially met with disapproval from the white community, yet persisted with her career. She was a member of the vocal trio Skeeter, Mitch and Jean (she was Jean), who sang versions of Parker’s solos in a manner akin to that of the later Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.

After moving to New York in the early 50s, she married Parker’s pianist, Duke Jordan, and studied with Lennie Tristano. However, it was not until the early 60s that she made her first recordings. One of these was under her own name, the other was The Outer View with George Russell, which featured a famous 10-minute version of You Are My Sunshine.

In the mid-60s her work encompassed jazz liturgies sung in churches and extensive club work, but her appeal was narrow, even within the confines of jazz. By the late 70s, jazz audiences had begun to better understand her uncompromising style and her popularity increased – as did her appearances on record, which included albums with pianist Steve Kuhn, whose quartet she joined, and an album, Home, comprising a selection of Robert Creeley’s poems set to music and arranged by Steve Swallow.

A 1983 duo set with bassist Harvie Swartz, Old Time Feeling, comprises several of the standards Jordan regularly features in her live repertoire, while 1990’s Lost And Found pays tribute to her bebop roots. Both sets display her unique musical trademarks, such as the frequent and unexpected sweeping changes of pitch, which still tend to confound an uninitiated audience. Her preference to the bass and voice set led to another remarkable collaboration with bassist Cameron Brown, whom she has been performing with all over the world for more than ten years so far. They have released the live albums I’ve Grown Accustomed to the Bass and Celebration. Entirely non-derivative, Jordan is one of only a tiny handful of jazz singers who fully deserve the appellation and for whom no other term will do.

Alan Broadbent was born in Auckland, NZ, and in 1966 received a Downbeat Magazine Scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. He also studied with the great jazz pianist Lennie Tristano at that time. In 1969 he joined the Woody Herman band as pianist and arranger for three years, after which he settled in Los Angeles. There he became associated with many well known musicians and artists including Irene Kral, Natalie Cole, Nelson Riddle and Johnny Mandel. In the late 1980s he became a member of Charlie Haden’s Quartet West. Alan has won two Grammys as an arranger for Natalie Cole and Shirley Horn and has been nominated seven other times, including best piano solo and trio performances. He currently resides with his wife and son in the village of Nyack, outside New York City.

Paul Wells began playing drums at the age of ten in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. He moved to the New York area to attend the renowned jazz studies program at William Paterson University, and has studied privately with John Riley, Kenny Washington, and Bill Stewart. Paul is currently touring internationally with Curtis Stigers, and is a member of Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks. He has also performed with Deborah Harry, Joe Williams, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, The Duke Ellington Legacy, Mark Murphy, Nellie McKay, Marion Raven, Norman Simmons, and Houston Person. Paul is a contributing writer for Modern Drummer magazine and endorses Istanbul Agop Cymbals and Vic Firth drumsticks.