STANLEY JORDAN

Stanley Jordan (July 31, 1959) is an American jazz/jazz fusion guitarist, best known for his development of the touch technique for playing guitar. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, and he received a BA in digital music composition from Princeton University in 1981, studying under computer-music luminaries Paul Lansky and Milton Babbitt.

Two-handed tapping technique

Normally, a guitarist must use two hands to play each note. One hand presses down a guitar string behind a chosen fret to prepare the note, and the other hand either plucks or strums the string to play that note. Jordan's touch technique is an advanced form of two-handed tapping. The guitarist produces a note using only one finger by quickly tapping (or hammering) his finger down behind the appropriate fret. The force of impact causes the string to vibrate enough to immediately sound the note, and Jordan executes tapping with both hands, and with more legato than is normally associated with guitar tapping. The note's volume can be controlled by varying the force of impact: tapping with greater force produces a louder note.

A helpful analogy to visualize this technique is the distinction between a harpsichord and a piano. A harpsichord produces sound by plucking its strings, and a piano produces sound by striking its strings with tiny hammers. However, while notes produced on a harpsichord or piano sustain after the hammer has struck or the pick has plucked, fingers must remain on a tapped note in order for the sound to continue. This similarity is what led Jordan to attempt such a technique in the first place;[citation needed] he was a classically trained pianist before playing guitar and wanted greater freedom in voicing chords on his guitar.
While the above analogy may have been Jordan's inspiration to employ a tapping technique, it is not a sound analogy. A piano's hammer leaves the string after hitting it, like a guitarist's pick would normally do. A more helpful analogy would be that of a clavichord; when a clavichord tangent (hammer) hits the string, it remains in contact with the string as long as the key is held, acting both like a guitar pick (the initiator of the sound) and a finger on a fret (becoming the clavichord's nut). The guitar tapping technique thus is almost identical to the method that clavichords have used for hundreds of years, with the guitarist's finger taking on the role of the tangent.

Jordan's two-handed tapping allows the guitarist to play melody and chords simultaneously. It is also possible, as Jordan has demonstrated, to play simultaneously on two different guitars. The technique generally requires a guitar with lower action and lighter-gauge strings. It is very difficult to use on a classical guitar, but possible on a steel string acoustic. The technique is the same as that employed by players of the Chapman Stick which was developed by Emmett Chapman in 1969, and later discovered by Jordan, independently.

Jimmie Webster is the earliest guitarist known to have tapped on strings seriously,[citation needed] but he didn't use the right-hand orientation used by Chapman and Jordan. Their approach allowed for full counterpoint with each hand as an equal element. Other guitarists have employed similar methods of playing at times, using the more conventional hand angles used by Webster: rock guitarists (though the emphasis tends to be on very fast lead guitar playing rather than polyphony) such as Steve Hackett, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Randy Rhoads, and Joe Satriani, and many acoustic guitarists following the lead of Michael Hedges and employing two-handed tapping to play rich, percussive pieces (Clive Carroll, Preston Reed, and Justin King are examples). Jazz-funk guitarist Charlie Hunter employs a similar technique using a custom-made 8-string guitar on which he simultaneously plays basslines, chords and melodies.

Another feature of Jordan's playing is the tuning he uses: from bass to treble EADGCF (all in fourths as on the Chapman Stick, compared with the standard EADGBE), so the patterns for chords are the same wherever they are played on the fretboard.

Stanley Jordan's main guitar was built by Vigier Guitars in 1982: it is an Arpege model on which Vigier made a flat fingerboard, allowing it to have a very low action (0.5/0.7mm). The low action facilitates the tapping technique.

Jordan was the first artist to be signed by Bruce Lundvall when the latter became president of Blue Note Records in 1985 and, consequently, Magic Touch was the first release (not reissue) of the rejuvenated label.

Personal life

Jordan has one 24-year-old daughter from his brief marriage. Jordan's daughter, Julia Jordan, is a guitarist living in Los Angeles, California, and recently completed an album titled Urban Legacy. The album received very positive reviews in the DIY section of Performing Songwriter Magazine.

Stanley Jordan is currently a resident of Sedona, Arizona, where he owns Sedona Books and Music. He attends Arizona State University, working toward a master's degree in music therapy.

Discography

Touch Sensitive (1982) (As this album is not listed on Jordan's Web site, he may not consider it an official part of his recordings)
Magic Touch (1985)
Standards, Vol. 1 (1986)
Flying Home (1988)
Cornucopia (1990)
Stolen Moments (1991)
Bolero (1994)
The Best of Stanley Jordan (1995)
Stanley Jordan Live in New York (1998)
Relaxing Music for Difficult Situations, I (2003)
Ragas (2004)
Dreams of Peace (2004)
State of Nature (2008)

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Stanley Jordan: State Of Nature

State of Nature is a series of reflections on the relationship between Humankind and the natural world. Through music, Stanley attempts to address the fundamental questions of Man's inharmony toward self, other, and nature, and then attempts to musically express the partial answers he has found in his quest. Extensive commentary in the liner notes chronicles his thoughts on these matters and illuminates the meanings of the songs. The songs are mostly instrumentals and are intended to stand on their own, yet each contributes to the overall theme in a specific way. Using the music as his guide, he ponders the questions of how we can be so knowingly destructive to the environment and yet not change our ways, and how we might develop ourselves on the inside to becomes more harmonious with nature. To his surprise and delight he finds his own answers within, and he attempts to share these insights in the music, which is ultimately hopeful and optimistic. The key to finding the answers was to realize that his own work on this project symbolized Humankind's quest toward being in the world--not only living sustainably but also attempting to achieve and maintain a state of grace.

From the moment he made his debut in 1985 with the gold-selling Grammy® nominated album Magic Touch, guitar virtuoso Stanley Jordan has proven himself as a forward thinking innovator. With his nimbly executed “touch” or “tap” technique, he ushered a dazzling and spellbinding new sound into the world of progressive instrumental music. Over the course of five major recordings and several smaller independent releases, Stanley has explored earthly and astral musical trailways. Because of the extraordinary originality of his approach to guitar, Stanley has been looked upon first and foremost as a musical original, orbiting in an artistic universe without predecessor or immediate successor. With his groundbreaking new album, State Of Nature (his first mainstream release in over a decade, and his debut for the Mack Avenue label), Stanley Jordan makes another bold step by using his music to aurally illustrate profoundly unifying truths about man's relationship to nature and humankind.

It was a convergence of experiences that led Stanley down this thematic path. “Part of the reason that I made this album were revelations I discovered in my journey to try to become a better person,” he states. “The other reason is that I discovered some disturbing information about environmental issues such as global warming, the deterioration of our planet and man’s role in it. When I was a kid, my family lived in what is now known as Silicon Valley, which used to be a vast swath of open land with farms and orchards. People talked a lot back then about taking care of the environment, but fast forward to today and it's still a problem. It made me wonder how humans can know about things like global warming and still not do anything. What is it about humans that makes us so intelligent and yet so unwise?”

This thought process led to the underlying inspiration for the song structures and themes of State Of Nature. Recording at Tarpan Studios in Northern California allowed Stanley to take time off for retreats to beautiful Santa Cruz and surrounding areas, where he immersed himself in nature awareness courses. The resulting music finds Stanley weaving classical, jazz and rock textures to get across his messages of atonement and harmony. Beyond his signature touch technique on guitar, Stanley utilizes other revolutionary techniques, such as playing two guitars at once, playing guitar and piano simultaneously, and incorporating sounds of nature that he recorded himself. Stanley also features the cello work of 19 year-old Meta Weiss, a classically trained musician whom he once tutored as a child in jazz and improvisation. He also includes three short pieces called “Mind Games” – mini canons, palindromes and interludes (inspired by those that Earth Wind & Fire slipped into classic albums such as That’s the Way of the World) that gave him an opportunity to include some musical ideas on the album without changing its focus.

Stanley states, “The two main ideas that consumed my thoughts were these: Human beings need to get back to nature, which extends to the environment as well as our bodies – the part of nature we carry around with us, and we need to evolve intellectually, spiritually and politically. Neither will work without the other. I believe that when we become more educated, we'll be better problem solvers.”

State Of Nature also includes a return to piano. That Stanley is also a pianist may be surprising, but it was his first instrument as a child because there was one in the house. “My sister says I was messing around with it as young as 3. I composed my first song at 5 and I started lessons around age 7. I didn’t start on guitar until I was 11. Piano was a natural instrument for me. I find that when I sit at the piano, I make music. But I don’t have the same training as I have on guitar. So that's always been intimidating. I realized that for my own personal development, I had to get out of my comfort zone and overcome my fear of performing on piano. There are aspects of my music that live in the piano. If I want those elements, I have to go there to get them.”

To describe Stanley Jordan is to think of him as a world-class musician who marches in all aspects of his life to the beat of his own drum. He is a progressive thinker with goals and ideas that stretch far beyond record deals, fortune or fame.

Each project that followed his classic Magic Touch (Stanley was also nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy that year) has taken him into thrilling virgin territory. Those projects included a solo guitar album titled Standards Volume 1 (1986) where Stanley made the bold statement that songs by the likes of Stevie Wonder and the Beatles deserved recognition as standards as much as chestnuts like "Georgia On My Mind." He followed that with the band album Flying Home (1988) and an especially edgy album titled Cornucopia (1990, a Grammy nominee in the Best Pop Single category for the title track), half of which was straight ahead jazz recorded live and the other half, multi-dimensional originals recorded in the studio. Still later in 1994, after a move to Arista Records (then-helmed by pop music maverick Clive Davis), he recorded the bracingly eclectic Bolero album, featuring covers of Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon," Jimi Hendrix's "Drifting," his original "Plato's Blues" and the CD's centerpiece, a 17-minute arrangement of Ravel's "Bolero" broken up into rock, African, Latin, "groove" and industrial versions.

Frustrated with the demands of the commercial music industry, among other things, Jordan went into a self-imposed exile from the rat race in the `90s that included a retreat to the mountains of the Southwest. He re-emerged with a new life's direction. "Most people - if and when they find their calling - come to see themselves in some sort of service capacity," he states. "Right now I feel a strong desire to bring my music to the people not just for entertainment, but also for inspiration and healing." Though he maintains a busy international touring schedule, his broader interests stretch into the studies of Music Therapy and Sonification. He also owned and operated the Sedona Books and Music Store in Arizona. Before the completion of State Of Nature, he recorded several independent CDs, including Ragas (a collaboration with musicians from India featuring Jay Kishor on sitar) and Relaxing Music for Difficult Situations I, an audio extension of his Music Therapy interests.

In addition to touring for State Of Nature, Stanley has set up an extension of his website that – much like major motion pictures have their own websites – will further explain and illustrate the intensely complex messages he aims to get across with his new album through the use of photos, video, essays and more.

Themes duly noted, nothing can take away the simple beauty this long-awaited collection brings. Stanley ultimately wants his international fan base to enjoy it on whatever level they feel at the moment. This truly shines through in the album’s radio-bound closing track “Steppin’ Out,” a cover of the feel-good 1982 single by British musical maverick Joe Jackson. It features Stanley’s daughter Julia among the vocalists on a newly penned chorus.

Passionately engaged in his train of thought, Jordan concludes, “If you think about space and how empty it is, here we are on a planet that is so nurturing to us. We need to get back to that. Look at the cracks in the sidewalk. The power of life is so strong that a little seedling can crack the concrete and come through. So at the end of ‘Steppin' Out’ – like the end of a night on the town – we return to nature sounds. The urban and the natural can co-exist.”

Source: http://www.mackavenue.com/artists/detail/stanley_jordan

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Stanley Jordan is a jazz guitarist with a spectacular technique involving tapping on the fretboard with both hands at once, capable of playing multiple simultaneous lines and sounding more like a pianist than a guitar player. Despite the popularity of the Stick and other paraphernalia designed to facilitate two-handed tapping, Jordan remains the foremost exponent of the technique as the basis for personal musical expression, rather than just a special effect. Jordan's career started off with a bang: his debut album attracted a lot of attention, he appeared regularly on late-night TV,and he was (with Wynton Marsalis) expected by the jazz establishment to revive jazz from its mid-80s doldrums. He faded from the public eye rather quickly, but has reemerged recently: You can get updated information on his whereabouts and touring schedule on his web site. 

Source: http://www.warr.org/jordan.html

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Stanley Jordan began his study of music on the piano at the age of six, shortly after his family had relocated from Illinois to California. At the age of 11 he took up the guitar, initially due to the influence of the music of Jimi Hendrix; within a couple of years, however, he had moved on to jazz. Throughout his teen years he worked at adapting a two-handed piano-playing style to the fretboard of the guitar, in the course of which he also developed a tuning for the instrument (fourths) better suited to this new approach. His mastery of this "touch playing" had reached such a level of development by the time he was 17 that it won him the soloist competition at the Reno International Jazz Festival. A period of study at Princeton University followed, with Jordan taking time outside of his education to peform both with local bands and, on occasion, jazz luminaries such as Dizzy Gillespie.

After finishing at Princeton, Jordan founded the label Tangent Records and released his first solo album, Touch Sensitive, in 1982. The album did not generate much interest, and the guitarist earned his living for a while as a street musician around New York, Philadelphia and various other cities. His reputation eventually led to a audition for head of the Musician division of Elekta Records, but Jordan put off signing a contract for over a year, choosing instead to refine his technique and spend time with his newborn daughter. When at last a deal was made, it had moved over to the newly-resurrected Blue Note label; Jordan's 1985 album Magic Touch would be the company's first contemporary release of this period -- and an enormous critical and commercial success, remaining at the top of the jazz charts for 51 weeks.

Building on the popularity of the album, Jordan made numerous appearances as a musical guest on The Tonight Show, David Letterman and similar programs, even turning up in the 1987 Blake Edwards film Blind Date. A sporadic output on Blue Note was maintained afterwards, with the occasional release (such as 1990's Cornucopia) re-instigating some of the acclaim generated by Magic Touch. Much of the music created by the guitarist over the years remains unrealized due to his lack of satisfaction with the results. Since the mid-1990s Jordan's focus has been split between touring and his involvement with the AMTA (the American Music Therapy Association), for whom he works as a spokesperson.

University: BA Music Theory and Composition, Princeton University (1981)
University: Music Therapy, Arizona State University (in progress)

Filmography As Actor
Blind Date (27-Mar-1987) Himself

Source: http://www.nndb.com/people/494/000047353/

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Stanley Jordan's discovery in the early '80s rightfully earned a lot of headlines in the jazz world as he came up with a new way of playing guitar. Although he was not the first to use tapping, Jordan's extensive expertise gave him the ability to play two completely independent lines on the guitar (as if it were a keyboard) or, when he wanted, two guitars at a time. He had originally studied piano, although he switched to guitar when he was 11. After graduating from Princeton in 1981, Jordan played for a time on the streets of New York. Soon he was discovered, had the opportunity to play with Benny Carter and Dizzy Gillespie and, after recording a solo album for his own Tangent label, signed with Blue Note. Since then, his career has been surprisingly aimless. Stanley Jordan can play amazing jazz, but he often wastes his talent on lesser material, so one has to be picky in deciding which of his recordings to acquire. Among his many albums are 1985's Magic Touch, 1990s Stolen Moments, 1994's Bolero, 1996's Standards, Vol. 1, 2003's Dreams of Peace, and 2008's State of Nature.

Source: Scott Yanow, All Music Guide