Born: August 21, 1970 Primary Instrument: Trumpet
Marlon Jordan - trumpet
Marlon Jordan, the youngest of seven children of musician-educator Edward Jordan and Edvidge Jordan, a classical pianist. “I started out playing saxophone, violin and drums,” says Marlon, “but the trumpet was the instrument that stuck with me.” Marlon recalls his father literally taking him on the bandstand “even before I really knew how to play. He'd introduce me to all the musicians, and they'd call me up on the stand. They'd say, 'Come on. That's Kidd's son. Let him play.”
As he continued his musical studies he had the day to day inspiration of Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, and many others to draw on. The young musicians often hung out at the Jordan household where they would practice music with Kent Jordan and take lessons from Edward Jordan. Marlon graduated from the famed NOCCA (New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts).
An accomplished classical musician as well, Marlon has performed solo with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra. But his true joy is his constant performance in the streets and nightclubs of New Orleans and Brazil.
His debut album “For You Only,” released by Columbia Records was the source of unanimous praise from the press. It was named “one of the best debut albums of the year” by the Washington Post. Following the debut album's release, Marlon took his quintet on the road. They joined Wynton Marsalis, Miles Davis and George Benson as a headlining act in a series of JVC Festival dates (produced by George Wein) in Atlanta, Dallas and other cities. They also played in some of the country's top jazz clubs, including the Blue Note and the Ritz, as well as in concerts ranging from New York's Avery Fisher Hall to Binghamton University.
Marlon understood that his continued growth as a musician depended on his ability to stake out his own musical ground, and not just to play standards. Following up on his own ideas, he wrote five of the tunes on his second Columbia release “Learson's Return” (April 1991). Following a series of quintet dates immediately following the album's release in the spring '91 (highlighted by a run at the Village Vanguard), Marlon joined up with “Jazz Futures” - George Wein's brilliantly-conceived 'supergroup' of “Young Lions” - virtually playing every major jazz festival and outdoor 'shed' on the circuit.
Marlon Jordan returned to national prominence in 2005 once again, with the release of his long anticipated Classic Jazz album “You Don’t Know What Love Is” on Louisiana Red Hot Records. The album features Marlon’s Miles Davis-comes-to-New Orleans muting and his sister Stephanie Jordan on breathtaking, silvery vocals on five (5) of the albums eight tracks. Marlon is joined here by patriarch Kidd Jordan, saxophonist and Southern University Jazz Director; sister Stephanie, winner of the “Billie Holiday Competition” for Jazz vocalist; sister Rachel, violinist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra; and three-album Columbia recording artist and internationally touted flautist, brother Kent Jordan.
