Stanley Jordan: State of Nature

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Nate Chinen wrote in the New York Times: "'State of Nature' … is a true hybrid, splitting the difference between assertive post-bop combo work and gauzy New Age confabulations. … As a whole it hangs together because of the deep and obvious investment Mr. Jordan has in the music. His signature technique — a method of playing the guitar as a sort of orchestral percussion instrument, tapping the fretboard with the fingers of both hands — receives generous expression here. The album’s sprawling opener, 'A Place in Space,' enables a virtuoso turn, as does the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic 'Insensatez (How Insensitive).' And a solo interpretation of the F-major andante movement from Mozart’s piano concerto No. 21 will surely grab the attention of amateur guitarists. … And Mr. Jordan occasionally plays piano and guitar at the same time, soloing with one hand and chording with the other. … Somehow it all culminates in a smooth-jazz cover of the Joe Jackson disco hit 'Steppin’ Out.' That phrase describes what Mr. Jordan is doing here, even if the results don’t suggest risk so much as a kind of reassurance."