Thursday, April 30, 1992
Slamming with that Other Jordan
Jazz artist Stanley Jordan takes his time with Stolen Moments
by Robb Frederick
The Collegian
"If you're gonna have a hit
you gotta make it fit / So they
cut it down to 3:05."
-Billy Joel, "The Entertainer"
If Billy Joel played jazz, he
wouldn't be plagued by such
problems, for the jazz arena has
no room for neatly trimmed
singles, pressed and polished and
ready for heavy radio rotation.
Jazz artists seldom dwell on
songs long enough to mold them
into singles; they're too busy
racing on to the next groove or
following the flow into a fresh
new arrangement.
That's the key to discs like
Stolen Moments, the latest
release by guitar guru Stanley
Jordan. The disc, a collection of
six far-reaching covers and one
Jordan original, brims with
immediacy, unraveling as the
lengthy numbers evolve from
crowd-testing intros to
impassioned, almost chaotic, jam
sessions.
Recorded at Tokyo's Blue
Note club in late 1990, Stolen
Moments captures the essence of
live performance recordings and
cements Jordan's slot as a
forerunner of jazz guitar
innovation
Jordan has long been touted as
a musical prodigy, and with good
reason. Schooled on his mother’s
piano by age six, he was lured
into rock guitar after hearing
records by Jimi Hendrix and
Carlos Santana. He never quite
let go of his piano training,
however, and decided instead to
let his earlier instruction shape
his evolving guitar technique.
Frustrated that he couldn't
duplicate the piano's two-handed
parts on guitar, Jordan began
tapping the strings along the
guitar neck. The result was a
stylistic innovation that
significantly broadened the jazz
guitar spectrum, as Jordan
slapped out complex, ever
shifting numbers, full of intricate
rhythms and jaw-dropping
counterpoint.
Stolen Moments revels in this
new-found flexibility. From the
THROE WEEK
SESSION
May 13-June 3,1992
Finals June 5
ACCTG 200
BISCOO2
ECNS47O
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ECON3O2
ENGL 202 C
ESACTI3B
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MISBD32I
PHIL 012
PSY 002
PSY 412
SPAN 003
big band swing of John
Coltranc's "Impressions" to the
melancholy reading of "Over the
Rainbow," Jordan continues to
test the waters, never quite
settling down with one particular
groove.
With some respectable
backing by drummer Kenwood
Dennard and bassist Charnett
Moffett, Jordan unabashedly
indulges in his technique, gliding
smoothly across the high end,
...Stolen Moments captures the essence of live
performance recordings and cements Jordan's
slot as a forerunner of jazz guitar innovation .
then dipping into the lower end
of the scale for a spirited change
of pace.
"Lady in my Life" builds on a
funk-oriented bass line, which
holds the piece together as Jordan
sails through a string of feverish
solos that never stray from his
classical smoothness.
The fresh interpretation of
"Stairway to Heaven" begins as a
faithful homage to Jimmy Page’s
graceful finger work, but Jordan
is out on his own ground by the
ECNS4IO
ECON 002
EE 251
EETBD4IS
EMCHOI2
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ART 120 MIST 020
BIOBD 494 A 11UM AN 101
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CHEMOIS MATH 004
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EIGHT WEEK
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The Collegian
:-BEHREND
COURSE LISTING
SSION 1992
time the frantic solo comes
around. He rages into the
passage without pausing to ask
for directions, and Dennard and
Moffett soon follow.
By the time the number
reaches the six-minute mark, each
musician has tapped into his own
groove and milked it for all the
energy it's worth. But as soon as
the arrangement strays too far,
Jordan brings the number back
into focus, closing it off with
another of Page's signature riffs.
Jordan shows his roots on the
disc's title track, a subdued
version of Oliver Nelson's
haunting classic. A casual
listening seems to lake the
guitarist out of the mix; but
when we realize that the delicate
keyboard passages are in fact a
product of Jordan's string-tapping
technique we're forced to take
another look at the startling range
of his ever-growing bag of tricks.
Jordan has said that he prefers
■/
live performances and the
spontaneous creativity a
supporting crowd can inspire.
After listening to "Return
Expedition," a 15 minute-plus
romp through the lower register,
it's hard not to see his point.
The number starts slow,
warming up the crowd and
establishing Jordan’s niche before
Dennard and Moffett charge in
with equally inspired intensity.
As the song plots its course, the
trio shifts directions and then
doubles back again and again,
each musician pushing the others
into the next passage.
When the crowd picks up on
certain grooves, Jordan and co.
respond by pushing the
arrangement up another notch,
picking up even more speed
before winding back down for the
track's exhausted close.
It's moments like this that
validate Jordan's spot at the
forefront of the contemporary jazz
community. His unparalleled
technique aside, Jordan demands
acclaim for his ability to work a
crowd, to find the groove his fans
want and tailor the next passage
to carry them along, no matter
how long the trip takes.
MATH 140 (Y
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MUSIC 005
OPMGT3OI
PHYS 151
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PL SC 003
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