Portrait of Sheila

Portrait of Sheila is the 1963 debut album of American jazz singer Sheila Jordan, released by Blue Note Records. In the 1963 Down Beat magazine Critics Poll, she was ranked first in the vocal category for "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition".[2] She did not record again as a leader for more than a dozen years.[3]

Portrait of Sheila
Studio album by
Sheila Jordan
ReleasedJanuary 1963 (1963-01)[1]
RecordedSeptember 19 and October 12, 1962
StudioVan Gelder Studio
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
GenreJazz
Length39:39
LabelBlue Note
ProducerAlfred Lion
Sheila Jordan chronology
Portrait of Sheila
(1963)		 Confirmation
(1975)

Background

According to the sleeve notes (written by Nat Hentoff), Alfred Lion of Blue Note decided to record Jordan after hearing her sing at the Page Three Club in Greenwich Village, New York, even though the label "had as a policy not recorded jazz vocalists before".[4][3]

Music

Track 4, "Dat Dere", showcases Jordan's predilection for performing voice and bass duets. According to biographer Ellen Johnson, Jordan originally wanted to devote Portrait of Sheila entirely to bass and voice, but the idea was turned down by Blue Note.[5]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Penguin Guide to Jazz
(Core Collection)[6]
Allmusic[3]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected the album as part of its "Core Collection" and gave it a rating of four stars (of a possible four).[6] Allmusic gave the album a rating of five stars (of a possible five).[3]

Track listing
  1. "Falling in Love with Love" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:31
  2. "If You Could See Me Now" (Tadd Dameron, Carl Sigman) – 4:32
  3. "Am I Blue" (Grant Clarke, Harry Akst) – 4:12
  4. "Dat Dere" (Bobby Timmons) – 2:43
  5. "When the World Was Young" (M. Philippe-Gérard, Johnny Mercer) – 4:43
  6. "Let's Face the Music and Dance" (Irving Berlin) – 1:14
  7. "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" (Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, Ted Fiorito) – 3:11
  8. "Who Can I Turn To Now" (Wilder, Engvick) – 3:21
  9. "Baltimore Oriole" (Hoagy Carmichael, Paul Francis Webster) – 2:34
  10. "I'm a Fool to Want You" (Jack Wolf, Joel Herron, Frank Sinatra) – 4:55
  11. "Hum Drum Blues" (Oscar Brown Jr.) – 2:15
  12. "Willow Weep for Me" (Ann Ronell) – 3:28

Personnel

"Dat Dere" features Jordan and Swallow alone.

References
  1. Billboard, January 19, 1963.
  2. Enstice, Wayne, and Janis Stockhouse (2004), Jazzwomen: Conversations with Twenty-One Musicians, Indiana University Press, p. 163.
  3. Yanow, Scott, "Sheila Jordan – Portrait of Sheila Jordan", AllMusic.
  4. Nat Hentoff sleeve notes on Portrait of Sheila.
  5. Johnson, Ellen, "Sheila Jordan: The Bass/Voice Duets (Part 1)", Jazz History Online. Archived 2016-04-10 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 804. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
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