Editing Stanley Jordan (section)

== Music career ==
Jordan was born in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], United States.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> When he was six, he started on piano, then at eleven switched to guitar.<ref name="am">{{cite web|title =Stanley Jordan: Biography |first=Scott|last=Yanow |website=[[AllMusic]]| url ={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=stanley-jordan-p6862/biography|pure_url=yes}} |access-date =November 28, 2011}}</ref> He later began playing in rock and soul bands. In 1976, he won an award at the Reno Jazz Festival.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> At [[Princeton University]], he studied [[music theory]] and composition with [[Milton Babbitt]] and [[computer music]] with [[Paul Lansky]].<ref name="W. Craig 1983" /><ref name="C. Deffaa 1986" /> He also took freshman calculus with [[Edward Nelson]].<ref name="ed nelson" /> While at Princeton, he played also with [[Benny Carter]] and [[Dizzy Gillespie]].<ref name="am" />

In 1985, Bruce Lundvall became president of [[Blue Note Records]] and Stanley Jordan was the first person he signed. The label released his album [[Magic Touch (Stanley Jordan album)|''Magic Touch'']], which sat at No.1 on ''Billboard''{{'}}s jazz chart for 51 weeks, setting a record.

=== Touch technique ===
Normally, a guitarist uses two hands to play each note. One hand presses down a guitar string behind a chosen [[fret]] to prepare the note, and the other hand either plucks or strums the string to play that note. Jordan's touch technique is an advanced form of two-handed [[tapping]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> The guitarist produces a note using only one finger by quickly tapping (or [[Hammer-on|hammering]]) his finger down on the appropriate fret. The impact causes the string to vibrate enough to sound the note, and the volume can be controlled by varying the force of impact. Jordan taps with both hands, and more [[legato]] than is normally associated with guitar tapping. His technique allows the guitarist to play [[melody]] and [[Chord (music)|chords]] simultaneously.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> It is also possible, as he has demonstrated, to play simultaneously on two different guitars, as well as guitar and piano.

He plays guitar in [[all-fourths tuning]], from bass to treble EADGCF (all in [[perfect fourth]]s as on the bass guitar) rather than the standard EADGBE. He has stated that all-fourths tuning "simplifies the fingerboard, making it logical".<ref>{{harvtxt|Ferguson|1986|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3idLAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Stanley+Jordan%22,+%22all+fourth%22+OR+%22perfect+fourth%22,+guitar+tuning 76]}}: {{cite book|chapter=Stanley Jordan|first=Jim|last=Ferguson|pages=68–76?|title=New directions in modern guitar|series=''[[Guitar&nbsp;Player]]'' basic library|editor1-first=Helen|editor1-last=Casabona|editor2-first=Adrian|editor2-last=Belew|editor-link2=Adrian Belew|publisher=Hal&nbsp;Leonard Publishing Corporation|year=1986|isbn=978-0-88188-423-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3idLAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Stanley+Jordan%22,+%22all+fourth%22+OR+%22perfect+fourth%22,+guitar+tuning}}</ref>

Jordan's main guitar was built by [[Vigier Guitars]] in 1984: it is an Arpege model on which Vigier made a flat fingerboard, allowing it to have a very low action (0.5/0.7mm). The low action facilitates the tapping technique.

=== Recording ===
[[File:19890600-33-StanleyJordan.jpg|thumb|Stanley Jordan, 1989.|alt=]]Among the artists Jordan has worked with are [[Quincy Jones]], [[Stanley Clarke]], [[Onaje Allan Gumbs]], [[Michal Urbaniak]], [[Richie Cole (musician)|Richie Cole]], [[The Dave Matthews Band]], [[The String Cheese Incident]], [[Phil Lesh]], [[Moe (band)|Moe]], and [[Umphrey's McGee]].

He has performed at many jazz festivals, including [[Kool Jazz Festival]] (1984), [[Concord Jazz Festival]] (1985), and the [[Montreux International Jazz Festival]] (1985).

In 2004, he released the album ''Dreams of Peace''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/dreams-of-peace-mw0000709372 |title=Dreams of Peace – Stanley Jordan &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits |website=[[AllMusic]] | date=2003-06-24 |access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref> with the Italian band [[Novecento (group)|Novecento]]. The album was produced by Lino Nicolosi and Pino Nicolosi at [[Nicolosi Productions]] and was released in the U.S. on [[Favored Nations]]. He signed with [[Mack Avenue Records]] and released ''State of Nature'' in 2008 and ''Friends'' in 2011. The latter was nominated for an [[NAACP Image Award]]. He has four Grammy nominations.
Jordan made the startup sound for the [[Macintosh]] computer models the [[Power Macintosh 6100]], [[Power Macintosh 7100]], and [[Power Macintosh 8100]].

=== Film and television ===
Jordan made a cameo appearance in the movie ''[[Blind Date (1987 film)|Blind Date]]'' (1987). In 1995 he wrote the score for the short film ''One Red Rose''. In 1996 he wrote the score for the ABC TV afternoon special, ''Daddy's Girl''.

Since the mid-1980s he has performed on numerous television shows, including ''The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson'', ''The David Letterman Show'' and ''the Grammy Awards''.