Mack Avenue
2008
State Of Nature
About This Album
State of Nature is the first studio offering by Stanley Jordan in over ten years; it also his debut for Detroit's fine Mack Avenue imprint. For those who have only heard the early Blue Note records or his live dates, this will be both welcome and a bit of a shock. Jordan has always been an ambitious artist. He took a long break from recording to study music therapy as well. His pioneering tap technique on the guitar changed the way it is used in jazz and popular music for many, and his holistic approach to music has delighted many and infuriated some purists. Oh well. The 14 tracks here are, as one might expect, all over the map, and so are his support musicians. There are some killer pieces from the jazz canon here, most notably in Horace Silver's "Song for my Father" and Miles Davis' "All Blues." These are likely to get notice because Jordan plays both guitar and piano on them simultaneously with no overdubbing. There will no doubt be some gnashing of teeth because Jordan's not as fine a pianist as Bill Evans or Silver. So what? These are fine renditions of these tunes, performed by a crack band featuring bassist Charnett Moffett and drummer David Haynes (who make up the core rhythm section on the majority of the disc).
Track List (try tracks 1,2 and 6)

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