Draft:Caroline Van der Leeuw

Introduction
The Jordan is the musical alter-ego of Caroline Van der Leeuw, widely recognised as the voice and face behind the chart-topping Platinum-certified Caro Emerald. . Caroline reshaped her artist identity as The Jordan to enable her to make a brand new start with a project which reveals her true self to the world at large. The Jordan represents a departure from Caroline's previous work, offering audiences a glimpse into her personal evolution and creative transformation. Total candor and unvarnished truth, vocals purer and more powerful than anything she has recorded before. Trip-hop and folktronic textures wrap her voice in magic and mystery with songwriting that finally pulls back the veil.

Biography
Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw was born on 26 April 1981, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands to a Dutch father and an Aruban mother. She started singing lessons at age 12 with James Gilloffo in Amsterdam and joined a girl vocal group, Les Elles, under his guidance. Following high school, she trained as a jazz vocalist at the Amsterdam Conservatory, graduating in 2005. Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw (born 26 April 1981), known for the music project Caro Emerald, is the woman behind The Jordan: a Dutch pop singer who mainly performs in English. Active since 2007, she rose to prominence in 2009 with debut single, "Back It Up". Follow-up single "A Night Like This" topped charts in the Netherlands. The album took the #1 spot in the Netherlands for 30 weeks. Also in other parts of Europe, the album was a success: in Germany, both the album and "A Night Like This" were awarded platinum (selling over 280,000 and 340,000 copies respectively), in Poland it went six times platinum , in Italy "Back It Up" received a gold record , and in Austria "A Night Like This" reached number 1. The album has sold a total of 1,200,000 copies and was included in the Classic Albums of the Netherlands in April 2012. In the United Kingdom, "The Shocking Miss Emerald" debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart.

In March 2014 Van der Leeuw gave birth to her first daughter. She gave birth to a second daughter in August 2017

In 2018 Van der Leeuw started writing for her solo project, finding new people to work with and searching for a much more personal style. She took a couple of years to shape and develop a completely new sound and identity, and in 2020 the recordings for her new project ‘The Jordan’ started. The name refers to De Jordaan, an Amsterdam Neighborhood she grew up in and where she discovered her love for singing. The album was produced by David Kosten and contained contributions from: Wouter Hardy, Adrian Utley, Jason Cooper, Jeremy Pritchard, Eg White, Oscar Holleman, Dotan, Koen de Witte and others.

Releases
Nowhere near the sky - February 10, 2023 (album)

Dancefloor - June 9, 2023 (single)

Amsterdam - October 6, 2023 (single)

Important TV / Radio Performances
Later With.. Jools Holland - BBC TV, June 10, 2023

RadioRing Gala, January 25, 2024.

Radio Eins - National Radio Germany, February 27, 2023

Propaganda TV (Mediaset) - National TV Italy, March 2, 2023

ARD Morgenschau - National TV Germany, February 14, 2023

Khalid & Sophie - National TV The Netherlands, February 10, 2023

Matthijs Draait Door - National TV The Netherlands, October 2, 2022

Important Festivals
Pinkpop Festival - 17 June, NL

Dauwpop - 3 June, NL

Eurosonic & Noorderslag - 23 January, NL

The Jordan sold out her first show at Bitterzoet Amsterdam, NL

Themes
The Jordan is increasingly emerging as an artist who sings about attaining (personal) freedom and independence.