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 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 used 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 melodies 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 "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, 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.
Kenwood Dennard having played with the likes of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Dizzy Gillespie, Kenwood also pioneered the jazz fusion improvisational movement in the 70s with his work with Pat Martino (Joyous Lake) and Brand X (Livestock) and later with Jaco Pastorius and the Word of Mouth band and PDB (Pastorius, Dennard and Bullock) and on his original works with Marcus Miller, Stanley Jordan and Vernon Reed.
He is a musical influence for generations of artists and has performed with many top artists today including Allman Brothers Band, Phish, String Cheese Incident, Derek Trucks, Moe., Sting, Taj Mahal, Warren Haynes, and many more
Wes Wirth is a prolific composer, writing for his bass, guitar, and voice. Wes’s unique style is “visually expansive, a hyperbolic soundscape, sonically erotic, sensually inviting, and mysteriously tender.” Wes’ inspiration comes from observing and participating with the elemental forces of nature, and the stunning diversity and cultural beauty in the world. This “music” provides a template for understanding our collective creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, and the connective elements of synergistic phenomena.
Wes has recorded or toured with legends such as Chuck Mangione and King Sunny Ade and George Russell, innovators like Hal Crook, and Yazhi Guo, drum masters Rakalam Bob Moses and Kenwood Dennard, and guitar giants Stanley Jordan, Vernon Reid, and David Fiuczynski