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Guitarist Stanley Jordan obtains 2012 NAACP Image Award nomination

Stanley Jordan
Photo by Keith Major

Guitarist Stanley Jordan has been nominated for a 2012 NAACP Image Award in the category of “Outstanding Jazz Album” for his latest Mack Avenue Records release Friends.
 
The NAACP Image Awards, celebrating its 43rd anniversary this year, are presented each year to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music and literature. In conjunction, the ceremony offers awards to individuals or groups who help promote social injustice through creative efforts. Members of the NAACP vote on the awards, and the process is similar to that of the Grammy Awards and Oscars.
 
The complete awards ceremony will be presented live at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. CST on Friday, Feb. 17 on NBC.
 
In Friends, Jordan shares the platform with the following musical guests: guitarists Bucky PizzarelliMike SternRussell Malone and Charlie Hunter; violinist Regina Carter; saxophonists Kenny Garrett and Ronnie Laws; trumpeter Nicholas Payton; bassists Christian McBride and Charnett Moffett; and drummer Kenwood Dennard
 
Reflecting on the wealth of music inspired by collaborating with chosen peers on FriendsStanley Jordan says in a news release, “I am so humbled and grateful to all of the wonderful musicians who graced this project. This collection truly speaks to my belief in the integrationist spirit of music. I’d like to move beyond ‘fusion’ and explore the concept of ‘integration.’ When you integrate styles, you combine them into something new while still remaining true to the original sources. The same principal holds for our friendships, which require mutual respect. Our friends are a mirror revealing the diversity within us, and at the same time they give us the courage to share our true selves with the world.”