The Jazz Voyager

Departing the Midwest for the nation’s capital is the next hop for this week. The Jazz Voyager is landing at Reagan National and hopping over to Wisconsin and M Streets in Georgetown to the Blues Alley. Situated in an actual alley, this intimate venue has long established themselves as one of the premiere jazz clubs on the East Coast. Opening in 1965 it has hosted the biggest names in jazz and blues along with emerging young stars.

This week I will see the incomparable Grammy nominated guitar Stanley Jordan. Be it bold reinventions of classical masterpieces or soulful explorations through pop-rock hits, to blazing straight ahead jazz forays and ultramodern improvisational works, whether solo or in a group, Jordan can always be depended upon to take listeners on a journey into the unexpected. If you’ve never heard him perform, this is an opportunity to witness his solo virtuosity.

The venue is located at 1073 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20007 and for more information you can visit https://notoriousjazz.com/event/stanley-jordan-3

CALIFORNIA JAZZ FOUNDATION

More Posts: ,,,,,,,,

STANLEY JORDAN

In a career that took flight in 1985 with commercial and critical acclaim, guitar virtuoso Stanley Jordan has consistently displayed a chameleonic musical persona of openness, imagination, versatility and maverick daring. Be it bold reinventions of classical masterpieces or soulful explorations through pop-rock hits, to blazing straight ahead jazz forays and ultramodern improvisational works-solo or with a group-Jordan can always be counted on to take listeners on breathless journeys into the unexpected.

Key to Jordan’s fast-track acclaim was his mastery of a special technique on the guitar’s fretboard. Instead of conventional strumming and picking, Jordan’s innovative “touch technique” is an advanced form of two-handed tapping. While a handful of other players were using similar techniques, Stanley’s fluid, multi-layered textures and sheer virtuosity raised the bar for excellence. But his technique, though impressive, is always a means to a musical end. His music is imbued with a warmth and sensitivity that has captured the imagination of listeners worldwide. A classically trained pianist before playing guitar, Jordan wanted greater freedom in voicing chords on his guitar, so he applied piano principles to do so. Jordan’s touch technique allows the guitarist to play melody and chords simultaneously with an unprecedented level of independence. It also allows Jordan to play simultaneously on two different guitars, or even on guitar and piano. He says that “I think of it as a single instrument, but one with a wide range of tonal colors-that’s why I do it.”

To date Jordan has performed in over 60 countries on 6 continents. He has performed at many festivals, including the Kool Jazz Festival, the Concord Jazz Festival, and the Montreaux International Jazz Festival. During the 1980s he collaborated with a diverse array of artists, including performances with Art Blakey and Richie Cole and recordings with Stanley Clarke and Kenny Rogers. The track with Rogers, “Morning Desire”, became America’s #1 country song in 1986. Later Jordan became a frequent guest with Les Paul during Paul’s legendary Monday nights at Iridium in New York. Today Jordan performs frequently as a soloist and with his band, as well as collaborating with other guitarists such as Kevin Eubanks, Sharon Isbin and Muriel Anderson. He’s also a frequent guest with jam bands such as the Dave Matthews Band, the String Cheese Incident, Phil Lesh, Moe and Umphrey’s McGee.

More Posts: ,,,,,,,

DUDUKA DA FONSECA

Duduka Da Fonseca & Quarteto Universal with Special Guest Maucha Adnet.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – the drummer who is a founding member of Trio da Paz with Romero Lubambo and Nilson Matta. He leads the Duduka da Fonseca Trio, with David Feldman and Guto Wirtti.

In 2020 Duduka was nominated for the American Grammy Award with the album “Sorte!”: Music by John Finbury, Thalma de Freitas with Victor Gonçalves, John Patitucci, Chico Pinheiro, Airto Moreira, Rogério Boccato & Duduka Da Fonseca.

Maucha Adnet was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and started her professional singing career at the age of 15, as a member of vocal group Céu da Boca. Maucha has toured around Brazil and recorded two albums released by Polygram.

More Posts: ,,,,,,,,

KATE BAKER

Kate Baker is a critically acclaimed jazz singer hailing from, and currently residing in, New Jersey. Her debut album, 2022’s Return to Shore, is a luminous guitar-and-voice duet with her late husband, Vic Juris, who passed away in 2019.

The throughline is Baker’s inimitable voice, which resonates with her love of diverse musical inspirations — whether jazz, Brazilian, Latin, or the blues. Be it English or Portuguese, a Cole Porter standard or an Antônio Carlos Jobim composition, Baker effortlessly makes herself right at home.

For two decades, she frequently performed with Juris, but that, too, isn’t the long and short of it. Across the years and decades, the list of luminaries the native New Jerseyan has performed with is a cross-section of the global jazz landscape.

More Posts: ,,,,,,,,

JOEY ALEXANDER

Joey Alexander, is an Indonesian jazz pianist. He became the first Indonesian musician to chart on Billboard 200 when his album My Favorite Things debuted at number 174 and then peaked at 59. His first album, My Favorite Things, was released in 2015 when he was 11 years old.

Widely regarded as a wunderkind, Alexander taught himself to play jazz at the age of six by listening to his father’s classic jazz albums. He won the Grand Prix at the 2013 Master-Jam Fest when he was nine.

In 2014, Wynton Marsalis invited him to play at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Alexander played at the Montreal and Newport Jazz Festivals in 2015 and has performed for Herbie Hancock, Bill Clinton, Wendy Kiess, and Barack Obama.

More Posts: ,,,,,,,,

« Older Posts       Newer Posts »
© Notorious Jazz 2024