shiue@h-sc1.UUCP (steve shiue) (10/24/85)
My nominee for best guitarist is the jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan (first album "Magic Touch" just released recently) - I believe that he is affiliated with Blue Note. What is special about Stanley Jordan is that he plays the guitar in a way that I believe no one else has ever done it - he taps the strings along the fretboard, playing it like a keyboard (I believe that they do something special with the amplification of the guitar). This enables him to play independent bass and treble parts simultaneously on different parts of the fretboard - for guitar afficionados, it is hard to believe that one man is playing - it sounds like an entire band. I had only heard of Jordan recently, and went to see a concert of his at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston without having heard any of his music previously. He played unaccompanied and was fantastic - highlights of the show included renditions of "Georgia on my Mind" and an incredible Beatles medley. I would recommend him highly to anyone remotely interested in jazz or guitar music. Reviews of "Magic Touch" have been in general quite enthusiastic. If anyone knows anything more about Jordan or if anyone plays like him, I would appreciate the information. -Steve Shiue "Great stunt, Daffy! They loved you!" (Bugs) "I know, I know. But I can only do it once." (Daffy) P.S. If there have already been SJ postings, spare the flames and acrimony - I just started reading this newsgrouop today.
wjh@bonnie.UUCP (Bill Hery) (10/26/85)
> > My nominee for best guitarist is the jazz guitarist > Stanley Jordan (first album "Magic Touch" just released > ............. If anyone knows anything more about Jordan or > if anyone plays like him, I would appreciate the > information. > There was a story on Stanley in down beat within the last few months. I saw him at a solo concert a few years ago in Princeton, where he was an undergrad at the time. Even then, he was an amazing technician, although his muical individuality still needed much development: even though he had his own unique technique, he seemed to be trying too hard to sound (musically) like Wes Montgomery. He seems to have grown a lot since then. Also, the Blue Note lp is not his first, but is probably the only one you can still find. He recorded an lp on a small label when he was in Princeton. If he makes it big, someone will probably reissue it.
wayne@ada-uts.UUCP (10/28/85)
I agree that Stanley Jordan is a gifted arranged and composer (I have
his album and have seen him on the talk show circuit) but I would like
to clarify one point: what he does to the guitar is not unique,
contrary to the promotional media blitz.
Stanley Jordan started out as a normal jazz picker (I think he went to
Berklee, if I'm not mistaken) but one day he attended a demonstration
of a new and innovative instrument called The Chapman Stick. He liked
the way this instrumented was played, but he couldn't afford the
instrument himself, so he asked the demonstrator how he could do a
similar approac with the guitar. That's how Stanley learned, and
essentially copied the two-handed tapping technique patented by
Emmett Chapman and is used on The Stick.
If you have never seen or heard of The Stick, it's no wonder, really
because it seems the music world is someone conservative. It's so
new (it came out in 1980) and it's so radically different some of the
musical media are waiting to see if it's successful or a failure
before they mention anything about it.
You have to see and hear it...when I first heard it (Tony Levin plays
one in the last incarnation of King Crimson, and he also plays it
when he's with Peter Gabriel) I was amazed and awed. I have since
heard of many others using it, and indeed its popularity is growing.
Alphonzo Johnson plays one. A band called Kittyhawk has THREE members
playing it. The bass player for Sting's solo efforts (I only remember
his nickname - The Munch) plays one. There's one in Bruce Cockburn's
band, and the list goes on... Lately the trend is towards using it in
jazz, because of its similarity towards keyboards. It is more widely
used on the West coast and its just starting to really be used elsewhere.
It bothers me that the music industry hypes up a mimic, but the true
innovator remains unrecognized. Stanley Jordan is well-deserving of
his praise, and his huge record sales, because he's indeed talented,
but don't say he's an innovator. Two thousand Stick players and tens
of thousands of their fans will disagree.
Wayne Wylupskitodd@scirtp.UUCP (Todd Jones) (10/29/85)
> My nominee for best guitarist is the jazz guitarist > Stanley Jordan (first album "Magic Touch" just released > recently) - I believe that he is affiliated with Blue Note. He is perfectly primed for MUZAK if ya' ask me. > What is special about Stanley Jordan is that he plays the > guitar in a way that I believe no one else has ever done it Ever since Eddie Van Halen stole this ancient trick from the great blues masters, electric guitarists have been beating it into the ground. Sorry, Stanley. What do you expect from a Princeton graduate anyway? ||||||| || || [JADED] Todd Jones \ ^ / {decvax,akgua}!mcnc!rti-sel!scirtp!todd | ~ | |___| SCI Systems Inc. doesn't necessarily agree with Todd.
kirsch@sjuvax.UUCP (P. Kirsch) (11/02/85)
In article <524@scirtp.UUCP> todd@scirtp.UUCP (Todd Jones) writes: >> My nominee for best guitarist is the jazz guitarist >> Stanley Jordan (first album "Magic Touch" just released >> recently) - I believe that he is affiliated with Blue Note. > >He is perfectly primed for MUZAK if ya' ask me. > >> What is special about Stanley Jordan is that he plays the >> guitar in a way that I believe no one else has ever done it > >Ever since Eddie Van Halen stole this ancient trick from the >great blues masters, electric guitarists have been beating it >into the ground. Sorry, Stanley. What do you expect from a >Princeton graduate anyway? > The "trick" that Van Halen uses is a little bit different than Stanley Jordan's technique. Jordan has invented entirely new voicings for chords that was before thought to be impossible. While Van Halen primarily uses his hammer on technique on one string at a time, Jordan is playing whole chords on all six strings at a time. (This is NOT a comment on who is better--just wanted to clarify Jordan's technique) -- Another wunnerful letter from the semi-intelligent rotting brain of: Paul Kirsch St. Joseph's University Philadelphia, Pa { astrovax | allegra | bpa | burdvax } !sjuvax!kirsch Warning: Objects in Terminal Room are Closer than they Appear...