There's no sound in jazz like Jordan in her prime. A white woman who embraced black culture, she transformed an unlikely featherweight soprano into a gossamer instrument, dancing unpredictably through time and pitch like a butterfly riding a gust of wind. She phrases like a horn; her primary influences have been instrumentalists, especially alto saxophonist Charlie (Bird) Parker, the bebop Prometheus who in the '40s took note of her precocious instincts and dubbed her "the kid with the million-dollar ears."
Detroit-born jazz singer Sheila Jordan can still bring listeners to tears
