UCPAC, WBGO, & Smooth Jazz New Jersey Present: Stanley Jordan: Stanley Plays The Grateful Dead

Saturday, June 01, 2024 @ 9:30pm

Hamilton Stage at Union County Performing Arts Center
360 Hamilton Avenue, Rahway, NJ 07065

As part of their new All That Jazz series at Hamilton Stage, UCPAC, WBGO, & Smooth Jazz NJ Present: Stanley Jordan: Stanley Plays The Grateful Dead.

Guitarist Stanley Jordan has formed a new band called Stanley Plays The Dead. Jordan has always loved the Grateful Dead’s music and Jerry Garcia’s playing in particular, and this 4-piece unit was founded to share that love with the fans. Jordan has received four Grammy nominations. His most recent album “Friends” was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Los Angeles Times jazz critic Leonard Feather wrote, “Genius is a word often tossed around in musical circles, but it has been rightfully applied to Stanley Jordan.”

Stanley Jordan was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began his music career at age six studying piano, then shifting his focus to guitar at age eleven. He then began playing in rock and soul bands. In 1976, while still in high school, Jordan performed with Quincy Jones and tied for first place as a soloist at the Reno International Jazz Festival. In 1981 he earned a BA in music from Princeton University, where he studied theory and composition with composer Milton Babbitt and computer music with composer Paul Lansky. While still at Princeton, Jordan performed with Benny Carter and Dizzy Gillespie.

Don’t miss your chance to see this incredible performer in this intimate setting. Come early and enjoy a cocktail at the WBGO Piano Lounge, starting at 5 PM.

PLEASE NOTE: Tickets to this event are sold exclusively through SmoothJazzNJ.com.

Tickets currently cannot be purchased either in-person or via phone through the UCPAC Box Office.