Blue Note Records is honored to be able to be able to
distribute
HIGHER GROUND, a CD that documents the
Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Concert that took
place in the
Rose Hall Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center
on September 17th. Less than 3 weeks after the devastating
hurricane
Wynton Marsalis
mounted this historic
evening has assembled an amazing array of talent from the
world of jazz, blues, classical, gospel, rock and pop. The
concert aired that night on
PBS and
NPR stations as well as
XM Satellite Radio.
During the Jazz
at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit
concert, The Jordan Family of Jazz "delighted the Rose
Theater crowd with an affecting rendition of
"Here's
to Life."
Singer Stephanie Jordan, a standout
here, was the real discovery of the evening. Her haunting
rendition of this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley
Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a depth of
understated soul that mesmerized the crowd and registered to
the back rows. Singing with
a clarity of diction that recalled Nat “King” Cole,
she offered an uplifting message of hope in her heartfelt
reading."
-- Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes Magazine
Hosted by
Laurence Fishburne, performers included
Norah Jones,
Paul Simon, James Taylor,
Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson,
Dianne Reeves, Joe Lovano and
Marcus
Roberts as well as a number of New Orleans favorite sons
who felt the pain even deeper including
Wynton himself,
Art and Aaron Neville, Allen Toussaint,
Terence Blanchard,
Marlon
and
Kent Jordan,
Irvin Mayfield, Jr. and
Buckwheat Zydeco...
more
By: Jason Berry - Gambit Weekly MUSIC
This lush recording would be better titled, 'We Know What
Love Is' by the Fabulous Jordan family. That is to take
nothing away from the roaming trumpet lines of the CD's
standard-bearer, the stellar
Marlon
Jordan. He reassembles
John Coltrane's version of 'My Favorite Things' in the first
cut, injecting a long, wailing space-trip in the upper
register, echoing sound sheets of the old man, composer and SUNO jazz educator Edward 'Kidd' Jordan. . . the patriarch's
spirit hovers over it like a smiling cloud.
Nor would a title change imply any disrespect to the real
star of these grooves. Marlon's sister, Stephanie Jordan, is
a lady with a great set of pipes. Anyone who has ever
romanced their honey to Johnny Adams's moody, lounge-lizard
smoky vocals on 'You Don't Know What Love Is' will thrill to
Stephanie's silk- between-the-fingers treatment of that
song, the title cut.
There's not enough love in the world, which is why we need
Marlon,
Stephanie and the sibling whose fingerprints are all
over this recording, Rachel Jordan - -
Rachel the violinist,
Rachel the executive producer, Rachel in charge of
management -- and also that irrepressible reed man,
Kent
Jordan. Kent's sweet
journey on the piccolo with stand-in trumpeter
Mark Chatters
on the final cut, 'Now Baby, or Never,' caps a grand march
of the siblings. You Don't Know What Love Is is a keeper.
--
Jason Berry
