Stanley Jordan & Kevin Eubanks Play MPAC Tonight

Two guitar masters, Stanley Jordan and Kevin Eubanks, perform at Mayo Performing Arts Center tonight, June 25, 2015 at 8 pm. Tickets are $29-59. This performance was rescheduled from March, when it was snowed out.

Kevin Eubanks is the Philadelphia native who took New York by storm starting out in straight ahead jazz clubs then progressive albums for contemporary jazz giant GRP Records and legendary Blue Note Records, frequent collaborations with cutting edge bassist Dave Holland, and then 18 years in Jay Leno's "The Tonight Show" Band (15 as Music Director) where he played with seemingly every meaningful musician across genres. Stanley Jordan is the Chicago-born/Bay Area-raised phenomenon who mesmerized audiences with his instantly identifiable "touch technique" on guitar beginning with his gold-selling Blue Note Records debut Magic Touch (featuring his radio staple remake of Michael Jackson's "The Lady in My Life"), followed by a string of wide-ranging endeavors including a one-off for Clive Davis' Arista Records and explorations into the field of music therapy.

Duets features spontaneous compositions and passionate arrangements that will send listeners' imaginations on a series of hypnotic journeys. The impeccably balanced Duets includes four all-new "skull arrangements" (so called because they were jointly created off the top of their heads), versions of four well-known classics: "Nature Boy," "Blue in Green," "Summertime" and "A Child is Born," plus interpretations of a modern pop song (Adele's "Someone Like You") and an electronic dance pop hit (Ellie Goulding's "Lights"). These were the all-natural uncalculated result of long philosophical heart to hearts as well as a 9-city tour - over 30 years after Eubanks and Jordan's first meeting in the early '80s at New York's famed jazz-fusion club, the 55 Grand.

"We've known each other since the early `80s," Eubanks opens. "Since then we'd see each other mostly on festival stages." Jordan adds, "I knew him as one of the best musicians in the early days before any of us were well known beyond the inner music circles...a guitarist with an unconventional finger style technique. I could relate to that. We were going for something different and I never viewed him as a competitor. The music was big enough for both of us."

The four "skull arrangements" started as jams then evolved in the studio over a few takes which gave the duo organic arranging ideas to get from point A to B. Jordan defines these pieces as "the real essence of what we do." Eubanks adds, "You get more out of the deal when people are involved with a willingness to make the whole thing bigger than 'my part and your part.' Together we've got this thing that's bigger than anything we can do alone." Kevin absorbed substantial inspiration toward this direction from young musicians he encounters today. "I really love the cats coming up in jazz. They are the most respectful group of ladies and gentlemen. Their excitement has no trace of bitterness and they bring so much more to the table. One cat is designing an app to help him keep a band together. That wasn't around when I was coming up. It makes them more open minded about, 'How do we get the music out there?' Music should be the portal that unites instead of the door that separates people."

Summing up Kevin Eubanks and Stanley Jordan's inaugural Duets recording, Jordan thoughtfully concludes, "This album fills a nice niche because it's relaxing yet engaging. When you hear Kevin and I playing together, it's all about the music and supporting each other. I just love the feel of it - it has a real sweetness. People who listen from their heart are really going to love this record as an antidote to the norm."