Stanley Jordan changed the way we listened to Jazz when he came into prominence in the mid-1980s through his “touch style” ofguitar. As he fretted with both hands on the neck, he mesmerised everyone with hits like Stairway to Heaven (1988), The Lady in My Life (1985) along with giving a new meaning to solo performance with his energetic stage presence. Before his concert at Jazz Utsav 2017 held in the Capital recently, Jordan opened up on his early days, his unique style and how he is inspired by Indian classical music.
Excerpts:
What kind of music were you exposed to as a child? When did you realise your love for guitar?
Since my mother was an amateur pianist, my first instrument was piano and she started training my sister and me in our early years. I had a slight inclination towards Rock and Roll in early age but at the age of 11, I took up the guitar as my family did not have piano available for few years. It drew my attention towards guitar. Later, I studied classical piano and listened to some great classical composers. I loved the expressiveness of guitar but missed the orchestral capabilities of piano and that led me to experiment with different guitar techniques and slowly I developed my touch technique in guitar.
That is how you started the ‘touch technique’ in an advanced two-handed tapping style...
It is inspired by the piano techniques as I had early influences of classical piano which I have applied to guitar. While I used to play the double neck guitar with one hand, the other hand remained free with which I started playing a different instrument independently – it could be an another guitar. It provides limitless possibilities for exploration on guitar and that is how I think I have contributed to the field.
In Dreams of Peace (2004), you had a collaboration with the Italian band Novecento which became popular. How do you see fusion music and do you want to collaborate with someone from India?
It is a real joy for me to travel to different countries. I have performed in over 70 countries now where I have collaborated with different traditions of music from which I picked up a lot of influences. My early introduction to classical music was a concert of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan with John Handy at San Francisco which I attended when I was just 14 and as a growing child it blew my mind. Since then, classical Indian music is one of my favourite music and I think there is a lot of affinity between Jazz and Indian classical music as both are based on rhythmic cycle. I am open to any wonderful collaboration possibility and I will surely look forward to it. I am coming to India for the second time and I feel very optimistic here as I see India as a promising country which has the potential for the growth of Jazz.
You also promote music as a therapy.
I had some experiences where music did wonders to me before I came to know that this is a separate field of study in science. There are a lot of benefits from music apart from just entertainment as it can actually heal. In my view we should not ask ‘what the music is’ but should also understand ‘how it is useful’. For example, if someone had a stroke or brain damage, music can help the brain to heal as it help neurons to recover quickly. Music also has a social value which can be used on young people who are anti-social or angry as it can bring them together. There is a cohesiveness in playing with an ensemble and you learn to communicate and it carries over to life in general. It can also be used in psychotherapy to build trust in some youngsters who are introvert. They can start talking easily if they are exposed to the right environment with music.
How do you see the present state of Jazz around the globe?
I have been listening that Jazz is dying for about 30 to 40 years now but still it is present in its full form. The real problem lies with the marketing of Jazz in which a different approach is needed.
Jazz has much more shelf life than any other form of music. It takes time for sales to reach good numbers as there are no instant returns in Jazz like in pop records. A lot of young people are being brought up in a different music environment but they are falling in love with Jazz as an alternative to what they were listening. So now, it is more of an art music, as it takes some time to appreciate and understand but it will co-exist with other genres like always.
You designed the start up tune for Macintosh computers in the early part of your career. How do you see the impact of technological changes in music industry on artists?
Some people assert that due to the advent of electronic music, opportunities for musicians have become limited. Others say, it has become difficult for musicians to find a studio to record as more music is being jammed through computers than with instruments. But I think technology has opened enormous opportunities in the field of video games, applications and other platforms from which newer talent can take benefit.
