THE MUSIC
S K E T C H E S
from Sketches booklet
“Sketches of a Memory - Takoradi” is a single movement work inspired my childhood in Takoradi, Ghana. The first element of inspiration is the city of Takoradi, Ghana where I spent the first 14 years of my life. The piece explores the progression of a typical day from sunrise to sunset. Beginning with a peaceful 3-bar sequence, the piece flows into a progressively chaotic section with moments of rest, ultimately ending with the same 3-bar sequence with a slight intervallic difference. This progression of slow-fast-slow represents a day of the rainy season in Takoradi. You begin with a beautiful sunrise but as the day goes on the storms get wilder and wilder with brief moments of sunshine until the end of the day when you have a beautiful sunset to close out the day.
The second element of inspiration was from a poem by F.J. Thomas titled “Lost in Reality”. What is interesting about this poem is that it is written following the Fibonacci Sequence; where the first line is 1 word, second line is 1 word, third line is 2 words, fourth line is 3 words, fifth line is 5 words etc… Sometimes writers will go by syllables instead of words or even combine the two. The text of the poem became the literal material for the piece, letter for letter and note for note. I then followed that literal material with original material that finishes or continues the phrase in a similar harmonic, melodic or sequential pattern. The poem reads:
Each
Night
I Dream
Imparting Pleasure
Entrusting My Heart Unafraid.
S K E T C H E S can be purchased through CD Baby, iTunes, or directly from this site using player above.
Over the Moon Rising
This project is the culmination of a turning point in Jordan's career. After founding the Ghana National Music Festival in 2015, Jordan began a new journey down the exploration, study, and performance of traditional music from West Africa, in particular the traditions of the Harp-Lute.
Inspired by musicians such as Toumani Diabaté, Osei Korankye, Ali Farka Touré, and Derek Gripper, Over the Moon Rising is a three volume set of EPs featuring music from different West African Cultures. With the release of Vol. 1 in 2022, "Mande Conversations" features Jordan's adaptations of seminal works from the Mande Kora repertory.
Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 are slated to release in 2023 and 2024 with each album featuring works from Yoruba and Igbe repertory and Asante repertory, respectively. Following the release of Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, a final compilation album will be released featuring remastered versions of the three prior volumes plus additional solo and chamber music tracks.
Over the Moon Rising can be purchased through CD Baby, iTunes, or directly from this site using player above.