Stanley Jordan

Stanley.Jordan.Trio.The.Paris.Concert.2007.1080p.MBluRay.x264-LOUNGE | 8.74 GB

I have always been astounded that so many beginning musicians begin their musical explorations on the guitar. Despite being an at least competent pianist, I have never been able to master the fretboard technique to really be able to eke out even the most basic chords on the guitar. I blame my somewhat stubby fingers for this inability, but of course my more musically astute colleagues point out that I have no problem voicing extremely complex chords on the piano with those same stubby fingers. Perhaps it’s the more “graph like” quality of voicing items on the guitar that throws me off, or something endemic to actual guitar technique. I might have had better luck had I adopted Stanley Jordan’s innovative, almost keyboard-esque, approach: instead of using his left hand to finger notes and his right hand to strum, Jordan exploits the “tapping” technique where he uses both hands to play the fretboard almost like a pianist percussively presses the keys. Surprisingly, Jordan’s approach doesn’t result in an overly staccato sound, and in fact there are beautifully sustained legato passages in a lot of Jordan’s work. This 2007 Paris concert, part of in-Akustik’s New Morning (a Paris nightclub) Blu-ray series, finds the guitarist and his ace band in fine form as they move through both originals and standards.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Stanley-Jordan-Trio-The-Paris-Concert-Blu-ray/9652/ (more…)

I have always been astounded that so many beginning musicians begin their musical explorations on the guitar. Despite being an at least competent pianist, I have never been able to master the fretboard technique to really be able to eke out even the most basic chords on the guitar. I blame my somewhat stubby fingers for this inability, but of course my more musically astute colleagues point out that I have no problem voicing extremely complex chords on the piano with those same stubby fingers. Perhaps it’s the more “graph like” quality of voicing items on the guitar that throws me off, or something endemic to actual guitar technique. I might have had better luck had I adopted Stanley Jordan’s innovative, almost keyboard-esque, approach: instead of using his left hand to finger notes and his right hand to strum, Jordan exploits the “tapping” technique where he uses both hands to play the fretboard almost like a pianist percussively presses the keys. Surprisingly, Jordan’s approach doesn’t result in an overly staccato sound, and in fact there are beautifully sustained legato passages in a lot of Jordan’s work. This 2007 Paris concert, part of in-Akustik’s New Morning (a Paris nightclub) Blu-ray series, finds the guitarist and his ace band in fine form as they move through both originals and standards.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Stanley-Jordan-Trio-The-Paris-Concert-Blu-ray/9652/

(more…)