Duke Jordan

Duke Jordan's lengthy career notwithstanding, his most enduring association remains his service as pianist in Charlie Parker's classic 1947 quintet. Before that engagement he had already performed with the Savoy Sultans, Coleman Hawkins, and the Roy Eldridge big band in 1946. Once his year with Parker concluded, during which his piano introductions to numbers such as "Embraceable You" became widely admired, Jordan joined the Sonny Stitt/Gene Ammons quintet for 1950-1951 and worked with Stan Getz in 1949 and again from 1952 to 1953. He began leading his own sessions in 1954 and presented his best-known piece, "Jor-Du," the year after. Although he maintained steady activity through the following decades, among other projects contributing music to the French film Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Jordan stayed largely out of the spotlight until he commenced regular recording for Steeplechase in 1973. Temporarily married to the gifted jazz singer Sheila Jordan, Duke Jordan made his home in Denmark from 1978 onward and remained there until his death on August 8, 2006. His discography includes dates for Prestige, Savoy, Blue Note, Charlie Parker Records, Muse, Spotlite, and Steeplechase.