During his four-decade career, guitar virtuoso Stanley Jordan has consistently displayed a musical persona of openness, imagination and versatility. Whether boldly reinventing classic masterpieces, playing soulful interpretations of pop-rock hits, or blazing through straight-ahead jazz forays and ultramodern improvisations, Jordan takes listeners into unexpected musical territory. 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 were using 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 melody 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. “I think of it as a single instrument, but one with a wide range of tonal colours—that’s why I do it”, he explains.