Stanley Jordan @ Strathmore

Stanley Jordan. Photo by chascar, used under a creative commons license.

Guitarist Stanley Jordan has achieved a goal that all musicians strive for yet only a select few attain, and that is total command over his instrument. But unlike many players with strong chops, Jordan does not use technique for technique's sake. Rather, his prodigious talent allows him to produce a gamut of sounds which represent every range emotion from the sensitive and delicate, to the harsh and jarring. This entire palette was on display Friday night at The Music Center at Strathmore, where he took the audience on an uplifting, inspiring, and thought provoking sonic journey.

Jordan's performance was in support of his latest album, State of Nature, his first major label release in over a decade. Always a thinker's musician, the album contains a mix of original compositions and standards, with each song reflecting a different aspect of Jordan's commentary on the state of the natural world and our place in it. He performed solo for much of the concert, but for several tunes his rhythm section was comprised of slick bassist Charnett Moffet and muscular drummer Kenwood Dennard.

The show opened with a solo rendition of the standard, "My One and Only Love". Jordan employs a two-handed tapping technique generally associated with shredders like Eddie Van Halen or Steve Vai, but in this context his counterpuntal melodies were serene and romantic. Other solo items in the program included Simon & Garfunkel's "If I Could", a lush arrangement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21, and Horace Silver's "Song for My Father". The latter saw Jordan take a seat at the piano, where he would play the keys with one hand and tap on his guitar with the other. A very capable pianist, not only was the technical ability involved jaw-dropping, but the sounds he evoked were simply gorgeous.