Stanley Jordan at Epworth is a must-see

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.

Jordan is a crowd favorite at Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival, where he’ll return for a special performance at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth.

The 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, multilayered 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.

To date Jordan has performed in more than 60 countries on six continents. 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.

Jordan has received four Grammy® nominations. His most recent album “Friends” was nominated for an NAACP Image Award.  Jordan came to prominence with the release of his 1985 album “Magic Touch,” a revolutionary project that placed him at the forefront of re-launching legendary Blue Note Records into a contemporary entity in jazz and beyond.

He is committed to music as an artistic, spiritual, and even health-promoting endeavor. He has been immersed for more than a decade in music therapy, toward which he is now working for a master’s degree at Arizona State University.

His involvement with music therapy leads him to do outreach in schools, hospitals and other venues wherever he tours.

He is an artist-spokesperson for the American Music Therapy Association, and he has done numerous lectures and demonstrations on the healing applications of music.