Stephanie Jordan Headlines Black Leadership Forum Lamplighter Awards; Lincoln Theatre, Washington, D.C.

Washington,
D.C. – On February 21, 2009 the Black Leadership Forum, Inc. will host
the 2008 Lamplighter Awards at the Historic Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U
Street, NW, Washington DC 20009. Founded in 1977, the Black Leadership
Forum, Inc. has honored and empowered African Americans and
corporations that continue to advocate for effective change in the
community, through public policy. The 30th Lamplighter Awards will
begin with a 5:30pm black tie reception followed by the awards program
at 7:00p.m. The event will feature New Orleans Jazz vocalist Stephanie
Jordan. She will be accompanied by her brother, former Columbia Records
recording artist Marlon Jordan and the renowned Dr. Clarence Knight
Orchestra.

The Black Leadership Forum, Inc. is an organization
committed to ensuring that the needs of the African American community
are addressed and executed through effective public policy. The
Lamplighter Awards were created to honor the corporations and
individuals who demonstrate and advocate for effective public policies
on behalf of this community. The Awards highlight the contributions in
the areas of: Leadership, Civil Rights, Corporate Leadership, Public
Service, Emerging Leaders, Arts, Entrepreneurial, Religious Leadership,
Scholarship, Equity and Justice Award.

The 2008 honorees
includes: Dr. Dorothy Height, President Emeritus of National Council of
Negro Women; Congressman James Clyburn; Congresswoman Donna Edwards;
Former Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones; Karen Bass, Speaker of the
California State Assembly; Ben Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP;
Danny Glover, Actor/Activist; Dr. Joanne Martin, Founder and Executive
Director of National Great Blacks in Wax Museum; Judith Brown-Dianis,
Esq., Advancement Project; Eric H. Holder, Jr., U.S. Attorney General;
Charles J. Ogletree , Professor, Harvard Law School; Jurnee Smollet,
Actress; Hill Harper, Actor; Gregory Moore, NAACP National Voter Fund;
Syndicated Communications; and Wells Fargo. We invite you to join our
celebration of these great leaders and honor their accomplishments at
the Lamplighter Awards.

Selected for the cover of the World’s
Who’s Who in Jazz; “SHOWBIZ, PIONEERS, BEST SINGERS, ENTERTAINERS AND
MUSICIANS FROM 1606 TO THE PRESENT, ” the London Monthly Herald
declares, “Ms. Stephanie Jordan … reminds me of the flashy dashy days
of Josephine Baker at the Lido in Paris, the author referred to her as
“The classy lady of modern Jazz!” The Washington Post boasts of her
Kennedy Center performance, “Contributing intimate and thoroughly
enjoyable interludes were . . . A poised, soulfully articulate
vocalist, Jordan turned in a performance that warmly evoked the
influence of Abbey Lincoln, Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae and other jazz
greats.”

Following the national televised Jazz at the Lincoln
Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert, 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 depth of understated soul that mesmerized the
crowd and registered to the back rows. Singing with a clarity of
diction that recalled Nat “King” Cole . . .”

“Stephanie Jordan
set the anthem on a slow burn Sunday night (Feb 17, 2008), delivering
the most smoldering rendition of the song since Marvin Gaye performed
it at another NBA All-Star Game more than 20 years ago… Another
blazing light in our constellation” writes Chris Rose.

“After
Hurricane Katrina, an extraordinary cohort of singers-among them, in no
particular order, Shirley Caesar, Aaron and Arthur Neville, Cassandra
Wilson, Diane Reeves, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, James
Taylor, and Bette Midler-convened at the Rose Theatre to perform a
benefit relief concert for the victims of the catastrophic. On that
memorable night; none sang with greater authority or emotional
resonance than Stephanie Jordan, who enthralled the packed house and a
national PBS NPR audience of millions with an ascendant reading of
“Here’s To Life.” Framed by her siblings Marlon (trumpet), Kent
(flute), and Rachel (violin), each, like their sister, a native New
Orleanian newly uprooted from their home. Jordan brought the concert to
its climax, rendering the Phyllis Molinary lyric-an instant classic
when the late Shirley Horn recorded it in 1991-with impeccable diction,
dead-center pitch, and a personal point of view, acknowledging Horn’s
antecedent version while drawing independent conclusions about tempo,
phrasing, and dynamics. In the process, Jordan … revealed a fully
evolved tonal personality, one that can be mentioned in a conversation
about such distinguished mentors and influences as Horn, Abbey Lincoln,
and Nancy Wilson” wrote Ted Panken for the Jazz at Lincoln Center
Playbill.

He continued “every so often a new voice stands up
and proclaims itself, but few do so with such supreme depth and
understated soul.”

Jordan’s four shows in October 2006 during
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Singers Over Manhattan” series left the
audience wanting for more.