STEPHANIE JORDAN
"A Tribute to Lena Horne"

Stephanie Jordan performs Saturday, April 25 in WWOZ Jazz Tent


WWOZ Jazz Tent
Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 3:45 p.m.

New Orleans, LA - The 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Presented by Shell (April 24-26 & April 30-May 3) will celebrate 40 years of musical and cultural history at this year's star-studded event. The Stephanie Jordan Large Band will perform during the first weekend of Jazz Fest on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 3:45 p.m. in a special 'Tribute to Lena Horne.' in the WWOZ Jazz Tent.

Jordan will fill the WWOZ Jazz Tent tent with a Big Band sound as she continues her signature trademark of singing jazz standards. Started in 1970, the Jazz & Heritage Festival continues to showcase the most important names in music history alongside many of Louisiana's favorite entertainers. A true heritage festival, Jazz Fest stands alone in presenting the highest caliber artists in such varied genres as gospel, blues, traditional and contemporary jazz, rock, pop, R&B, Cajun, zydeco and much more.

Stephanie Jordan who has had the privileged of mentoring under the guidance of Shirley Horn says that it was "Lena Horne who actually served as my introduction to great jazz singers. As a little girl I wanted to be Lena Horne and now I want to do something in her honor while she is still with us. I think it is most appropriate to do so on the 40th Anniversary of Jazz Fest."

Stephanie, whom critics have placed in the company of Nancy Wilson and Diana Krall, began to receive national recognition following her stunning performance during the nationally televised Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center. Bill Milkowski of JazzTimes Magazine writes "Stephanie Jordan, a standout here, was the real discovery of the evening. Her haunting rendition of (Here's to Life) this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a dept of understated soul that mesmerized the crowd and registered to the back rows. Singing with a clarity of diction that recalled Nat "King" Cole . . ."

Last Fall, she performed a stunning concert with the Lionel Hampton Big Band during the Official Centennial Birthday Celebration in honor of Mr. Hampton at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art/University of New Orleans.

Fittingly. Jordan's Jazz Fest performance procedes that of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis on the same stage