Trailblazing jazz singer dies while ‘listening to the music she loved’

Sheila Jordan, a prolific jazz singer who helped pioneer a bebop and scat singing style, has died. She was 96.

Jordan’s death was announced by her daughter, Tracey, in an Instagram post on Monday, Aug. 11.

“Dear Jazz Family & Friends, My dearest mum Sheila Jordan passed away peacefully this afternoon, Monday, August 11 on at 3:50 pm. Her friend Joan Belgrave was playing her a bebop tune called Bill for Bennie, by her late husband Marcus Belgrave. My mom fell asleep listening to the music she loved and helped define,” she wrote alongside a photo of her holding her mother’s hand.

“Thank you for your support and generosity, the money raised on her GoFundMe page will be used to pay off medical debt and secure a plot for her at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Jazz Corner,“ she wrote. ”A memoria