But as the 1990s dawned, the climate for a new synthesis of jazz and pop was about to change.īy the beginning of the 1990s jazz-loving DJs such as Gilles Peterson and Paul Murphy had been introducing the most soulfully danceable tunes from jazz's hard-bop era to London clubbers, sowing the seeds of what would become "acid-jazz".
That mix found its way into a self-made single, After Hours, which was rejected by record companies at first. He took a business degree and initially worked in a variety of non-musical jobs, but kept on listening – to jazz musicians, to guitarists from Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to Chuck Berry and T Bone Walker, to soul and funk artists including Parliament/Funkadelic and Tower of Power, and to early hip-hop pioneers. Ronny taught himself to play the ukulele at the age of four and the guitar at eight, performing for his father's church congregations. His father, Laurence, was a church deacon and his mother, Anzel, a dressmaker, was also involved with the church as a pastor. The second of seven siblings, Jordan was born Robert Simpson, to Jamaican parents, in London. When he played at Ronnie Scott's club in 2004, his playing rippled with Montgomery's warm chording and sleek octave slides, snapped with a succinct bluesiness, and took off most ecstatically on Green's Sunday Mornin', the kind of holy-rolling gospel vehicle that had been second nature to Jordan from childhood. But Jordan was genuinely devoted to the work of the great jazz guitarists of the swing and hard-bop eras – notably Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery and Grant Green – and in the right circumstances would pay his respects to them with joyfully breezy virtuosity. To some it was elegantly executed radio-play music with a jazzy gloss.
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