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In 21 short years, Jordan Tice and his guitar
have gone places that people twice his age can only imagine. Drawing from
his roots in bluegrass, studies of jazz and classical composition, and
love of traditional music of all types, Jordan synthesizes diverse elements
into something new.
Starting with the Allman Brothers and an electric guitar at age 12, Jordan
got into bluegrass through his parents who are bluegrass musicians themselves.
Bluegrass gave him a medium to develop his craft naturally as well as
begin to write his own music. Concurrently, he studied jazz and classical
guitar, which helped him develop greater conceptual and technical understanding
of the guitar as well as music theory. He is currently a senior music
composition major at Towson University on full scholarship where he has
written for jazz ensembles as well as classical chamber groups.
He has toured Europe and the US and appeared in concert with Mark Schatz,
Frank Wakefield, Darol Anger, Paul Kowert, and Brittany Haas. He has released
two albums as a leader on Patuxent Records as well as one as a part of
the trio, "Corbett, Chrisman, and Tice" with Wes Corbett on
banjo and Simon Chrisman on hammered dulcimer.
In his most recent solo project, "Long Story", Jordan has achieved
an engaging, natural, and extremely musical work. Utilizing the talents
of Noam Pikelny on banjo, Casey Driessen on fiddle, Andy Hall on dobro,
and Mark Schatz on bass, Jordan composed tunes that, as Chris Eldridge
writes in the liner notes, "sound and feel natural on bluegrass instruments
while gently opening the door to a much wider world of musical influence".
"Long Story" is focused yet diverse. Blending memorable melodies
with more modern sounds and compositional techniques, Jordan consolidates
a large world of musical influence into a collection of music that is
complex enough to intrigue musicians across genres while remaining eminently
listenable.
Jordan is currently working to form a group to play his music live. He
is also constantly writing new music and developing his guitar playing
to further realize his place in the musical world. As a tireless, broad-minded
listener, Jordan's interests range from Swedish fiddle music to rap, Be-bop
to Bartok, Beethoven to Bulgarian. He distills what he likes from each
and it becomes part of his own music. Musicians from many genres have
found in Jordan, someone who is intuitive, yet analytical, who is able
to see the big picture and expand it.
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