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Jordan McLean

Jordan McLean -composer, arranger, bandleader, trumpeter and educator—

has been active in the professional music world for the last twenty years, having performed, recorded and collaborated with a multitude of musicians, ensembles and performance organizations around the world. His career stretches from the esoteric and rarified to the mainstream and popular. He has most recently joined the famed song writer Sam Beam’s Iron And Wine and is a spokeman for The 2013 UNESCO International Jazz Day.

Based in NYC, Jordan’s original compositions have been performed in New York and throughout Europe by contemporary music ensembles such as Cadillac Moon Ensemble and Till By Turning. He has adapted and conducted Mauricio Kagel's Music For Renaissance Instruments and actively commissions promising young arrangers for radical re-orchestrations of masterworks.

Jordan is Associate Musical Director, contributing composer/arranger and trumpeter for Bill T. Jones’s TONY-winning Broadway production of FELA! As a member of the FELA! band, he has performed at St. Ann's Warehouse, on the television programs The View and The Colbert Report, and has composed and arranged for Patti LaBelle. His work as a composer and arranger is featured on the Grammy nominated FELA! Original Broadway Cast Album.

Jordan is a charter member and lead trumpeter of the world-renowned Afrobeat band Antibalas. His work with the group over the past fifteen years has led to collaborations with such acclaimed acts as David Byrne, St. Vincent, Pretty Lights, TV on the Radio, Patti Smith, Medeski Martin and Wood, The Roots, Public Enemy, Paul Simon, Beyonce, Angelique Kidjo (including her 2007 Grammy-winning album, Djin Djin) and appearances on Saturday Night Live, NBC's “The Late Show”, VH1’s “Divas”, and 2 Comedy Central Comedy Awards.

He is the regular trumpeter for the world-traveling Sway Machinery, with performances in clubs and synagogues around the U.S. and festivals in Europe, Canada, Australia and Mali, including the Festival Au Desert, outside of Timbuktu.

Jordan's work as a recording artist includes sessions for famed producers Gabe Roth, Mark Ronson, Wyclef Jean and Tony Visconte as well as Daptone, Blue Note, Verve, Razor and Tie, Desco, Rope-a-Dope, Ninja Tune, and J-Dub Records.

His radio credits include performances and interviews on Minnesota Public Radio, National Public Radio's “All Things Considered” and “Morning Becomes Eclectic”, and multiple appearances on New York's WBAI, WNYC's “Soundcheck”, Columbia University's W-KCR, and the legendary W-KEXP in Seattle. TV appearances include Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show With Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien with Antibalas and Iron and Wine.

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