News

STANLEY JORDAN NOMINATED FOR 2012 NAACP IMAGE AWARD - “OUTSTANDING JAZZ ALBUM”

Guitarist Stanley Jordan has been nominated for a 2012 NAACP Image Award in the category of "Outstanding Jazz Album" for his latest Mack Avenue Records release, Friends.

The NAACP Image Awards, currently celebrating its 43rd anniversary, are presented each year to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music and literature. In conjunction, the ceremony offers awards to individuals or groups who help promote social injustice through creative efforts. Members of the NAACP vote on the awards and the process is similar to that of the GRAMMY® Awards and Oscars.

The complete awards ceremony will be presented on Friday, February 17 and can be viewed live on NBC at 8pm EST/7pm CST.

With Friends, released on September 27, Jordan takes the time-honored path of inviting a handpicked cadre of guests: guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli, Mike Stern, Russell Malone and Charlie Hunter; violinist Regina Carter; saxophonists Kenny Garrett and Ronnie Laws; trumpeter Nicholas Payton; bassists Christian McBride and Charnett Moffett; and drummer Kenwood Dennard. The results proved truly outstanding on numbers ranging from a Bela Bartok piece to a Katy Perry pop smash, a heady original blues and three jazz classics spanning swing, cool and modern. There's a listener-friendly samba, an airy spirit song and an astounding nod to the atonal. Jordan plays some serious piano on a couple of songs, revisiting his seminal instrument with a seasoned technique underscored by strong, purposeful invention.

Reflecting on the wealth of music inspired by collaborating with chosen peers on Friends, Stanley Jordan concludes, "I am so humbled and grateful to all of the wonderful musicians who graced this project. This collection truly speaks to my belief in the integrationist spirit of music. I'd like to move beyond 'fusion' and explore the concept of 'integration.' When you integrate styles, you combine them into something new while still remaining true to the original sources. The same principal holds for our friendships, which require mutual respect. Our friends are a mirror revealing the diversity within us, and at the same time they give us the courage to share our true selves with the world."