Introduction
Steve Jordan (January 15, 1919 – September 13, 1993) was an American jazz guitarist.
Jordan studied with Allan Reuss early in life while Reuss was Benny Goodman's guitarist. He worked in the Will Bradley Orchestra (1939–41), Artie Shaw (1941–42), and Teddy Powell (briefly in 1942) before he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Following his term of service he played with Bob Chester, Freddie Slack, Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Boyd Raeburn.
He became a studio musician for NBC and worked often as a freelance sideman after the big band era was over. He worked with Gene Krupa, Mel Powell, Vic Dickenson, Charles Thompson, Buck Clayton, Ruby Braff, Benny Goodman, Wild Bill Davison, Clancy Hayes, Buddy Tate, Helen Ward, and Ed Polcer. He held a regular gig in Washington, D.C. with Tommy Gwaltney from 1965 to 1972, and was offered the opportunity to succeed Freddie Green in the Count Basie Orchestra but turned it down.
Jordan recorded Jordan recorded only one session as a leader, a 1972 album Fat Cat's Jazz. He published a memoir entitled Rhythm Man in 1991.
Discography
As leader
- Here Comes Mister Jordan (1972)
As sideman
With Will Bradley & His Orchestra
- 1999 Beat Me Daddy to a Boogie Woogie Beat
- 1999 Hallelujah
- 2001 It's Square But It Rocks
- 2002 Live in 1940–1941
- 2002 Swingin' Down the Lane
With Ruby Braff
- 1956 Braff!
- 1957 Hi Fi Salute to Bunny
- 1957 The Ruby Braff Octet with Pee Wee Russell & Bobby Henderson at Newport
- 1999 Linger Awhile
- With Buck Clayton
- How Hi the Fi (Columbia, 1954)
- Buck Meets Ruby (Vanguard, 1954) with Ruby Braff
- Jumpin' at the Woodside (Columbia, 1955)
- All the Cats Join In (Columbia 1956)
- 1954 Buck Meets Ruby
- 1956 Jam Sessions from the Vault
With Wild Bill Davison
- 1966 Wild Bill at Bull Run
- 1986 Lady of the Evening
With Benny Goodman
- 1954 B. G. in Hi-Fi
- 1960 Swing, Swing, Swing
- 1996 Fascinating Rhythm: Live 1958
- 2002 The Famous Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert 1938
With Steve Khan
- 1981 Eyewitness
- 1989 Public Access
With Boyd Raeburn
- 1955 Boyd Meets Stravinsky
- 1957 Fraternity Rush
- 1980 Jewells
- 1994 Boyd Raeburn and His Orchestra 1944
With Buddy Tate
- Buddy Tate and His Buddies (Chiaroscuro, 1973)
With others
- 1953 The Dizzy Gillespie Story, Dizzy Gillespie
- 1954 Mel Powell and his All Stars at Carnegie Hall, Mel Powell
- 1956 Cat Meets Chick, Jimmy Rushing
- 1958 The Fabulous Jimmy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey
- 1973 Buddy Tate and His Buddies, Buddy Tate
- 1995 And Not Only That, Brooks Tegler's Hot Jazz Guitar
- 1997 Street of Dreams [1946], Johnny Bothwell
- 1999 Nice Work, Vic Dickenson
- 2004 Who's Rhythm?, Gene Krupa