Sheila Jordan: You Are Our Sunshine!

Personnel:

Yoko Miwa, piano
Mikayla Shirley, vocals
Dominique Eade, vocals
Harvie S, bass
Roni Ben-Hur, guitar
Tim Ray, piano
Brad Barrett, bass
Scott Goulding, drums

"Sheila Jordan was a consummate vocal artist, but that was just one measure of her greatness. Her personal warmth and honesty on stage made people fall in love with her. As we approach what would have been her 98th birthday, my wife Joanne and I are delighted to bring together a team of brilliant artists to remember her and celebrate her legacy," says writer, journalist and former jazz radio host Steve Elman.

Cambridge, MA--Musicians, fans and friends will come together on Thursday, November 12 at The Mad Monkfish in Cambridge's Central Square for two loving and inventive sets of extraordinary music in a unique salute to jazz singer Sheila Jordan. "Sheila Jordan: You Are Our Sunshine" is the title of this event. The song "You Are My Sunshine" was a song that Sheila often sang, but it was also the song that eventually led to her first album on Blue Note Records.

All of the musicians on this program either performed with her or studied with her. They are pianist Yoko Miwa, bassist Brad Barrett, drummer Scott Goulding, singer Mikayla Shirley, singer Dominique Eade, bassist Harvie S, guitarist Roni Ben-Hur, and pianist Tim Ray. The Mad Monkfish was home to Sheila Jordan's annual "birthday party" events for many years, and it spawned many of Sheila's Jazz Workshop events with her unique vocal studies classes. The jazz, sushi, and Thai food club/restaurant, affectionately shortened to "Monkfish" by area jazz fans, is located at 524 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.

Pianist Yoko Miwa and vocalist Mikayla Shirley have just recorded a duo album entitled The Midnight Hour on the Cupcakes & Muffins label; it's out for release this week, August 28. Mikayla Shirley is 25 years old, newly graduated from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute master's program, and an attendee at Sheila Jordan's master classes. She has already headlined at the Regattabar Jazz Club at The Charles Hotel.

Singer Dominique Eade has a new album as well, titled Roots & Byways on the Sunnyside label. Eade shares this album with the one and only legendary pianist and dear friend of Sheila Jordan, Ran Blake. The legendary pianist Ran Blake has enjoyed a long and celebrated career as a composer, educator, and performer. His work with vocalists might be his most revered, as he has always maintained an orchestral but playful approach to co-creating with vocalists. Vocalist Eade met Blake nearly five decades ago when she arrived in Boston to enrich her musical practice at Berklee College of Music. Hearing Blake perform a solo piano concert was revelatory, as he was able to put a new context to the jazz and contemporary classical approaches that Eade had been exposed to at home. Eade quickly jumped to the Third Stream Music Department at the New England Conservatory.

Bassist Harvie S, who performed with Sheila for decades has an album due to be released by the time of this performance entitled Bright Dawn on the Origin label. The album features Harvie with Peter Bernstein on electric guitar, Miki Hayama on piano and Matt Wilson on drums. On Bright Dawn, Harvie's 21st recording as a leader, Harvie reaffirms why he remains one of the most expressive and sought-after bass voices in modern jazz. In addition, Harvie is working feverishly to release a duo session recorded in 1983 with Sheila herself, on Dot Time Records.

Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur released Abriendo Puertas on Dot Time Records on June 26, 2026. Abriendo Puertas was recorded in Havana, but the album isn’t built around the drama of arrival. Its beauty lies elsewhere — in musicians finding a shared room and letting that room change the music. The album features Roni on guitar, Alejandro Falcón on piano, Pedro Pablo Gutiérrez on acoustic bass, Ruy López-Nussa on drums, Octavio Rodríguez Rivera on percussion, Emir Santa Cruz on tenor saxophone and Osdalgia Lesmes on vocals.