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. Written by Scott Yanow for All Music Guide.
This album is a very special co production of
Novecento, whose appears to be Jordan plus the Nicolosi family: Dora (vocals), Lino (rhythm guitar), Rossana (bass) and Pino (keyboards). The disc falls into the common modern jazz trap of trying to cover too many bases: there's a Lite Jazz number to get on the radio ("Flying On The Sky"), there's a John Scofield-style shredfest ("Spring"), there's some New Age puffery with strings and vocal ("Tell Me Something"), there's a funk number ("I Can Show You Something"), and along the way the band never establishes an identity or mood. This wouldn't be such a problem if the tunes were stronger, but they're mostly simple, forgettable snatches of melody ("Destination Of My Heart"). Jordan co-wrote everything, but doesn't take a commanding role, mostly content to noodle his way through the grooves ("Sky Flower"), though he does construct a fine solo on the title track, and add a nice slippery outro to "Too Close To The Sun."
Randy Brecker ("Destination Of My Heart") tops the guest list, which also boasts Gregg Brown (vocals), Leonardo Govin (trombone), Trio Solista (strings) and a host of percussionists. Released on
Steve Vai's
Favored Nations label, which is rounding up an admirable assortment of guitar virtuoso.
An Evening With John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess
