Stanley Jordan’s performances always showcase a technical wizardry that sets him apart from every known guitarist. His music also is imbued with a combination of passion, sensitivity, humor and sheer brilliance. As jazz chronicler Leonard Feather was prompted to write upon seeing him in concert, “Genius is a word too often tossed around in musical circles, but it has been rightfully applied to Stanley Jordan.”

Stanley Jordan was born in Chicago in 1959 and studied classical piano before changing emphasis to the guitar. Obviously quite bright and very serious, he attended and graduated from Princeton University and remains academically oriented.

A guitarist best known for his development of the “touch” or hammering technique, Stanley Jordan's particular touch technique employs two-handed tapping. Both hands are positioned in parallel positions over the fretboard to tap notes on multiple strings. This method allows the guitarist to play a melodic line and chords simultaneously. It is also possible, as Jordan has demonstrated, to play simultaneously on two different guitars.  It is very difficult to do.

In the mid-1980s, Stanley hit the scene much heralded because of his extraordinary, even revolutionary technique and virtuosity. He definitely has been under-recorded as a leader. Early acclaim and a desire to do more than tour, particularly to study and develop the healing powers of music, has led this shy and retiring artist to eschew the limelight until very recently, as his career has crested once again. While many of his dates are captivating solo performances, he will appear at “Jazz Impressions” with a trio consisting of long-term sidekick, Charnett Moffett on bass and David "Fingers” Haynes on drums – both are definitely up to the daunting task of grooving with Stanley Jordan.