Julia Jordan
Conscious. Acoustic. Soul. Julia Jordan’s voice glides calmly and soulfully as she sings about life, disappointment, meditation, and free will. Her songs come from the mind of a revolutionary. The honesty of her lyrics and the spirit of her sound make the heartbroken feel hopeful. Julia’s music is acoustic based, but her arrangements go much deeper, pulling inspiration from her jazz and folk roots, her urban street education, and her natural R&B soul.
The daughter of the genius guitarist and composer Stanley Jordan, Julia grew up in a creative home. Her mother, Sandra Kilpatrick, is a poet who can pull beauty from any life moment. She taught Julia the power of her own words, showing her that it is a power to be used to reach people at the deepest level. New York City was an inspiring place for young Julia, a naturally independent freethinker, to spend her school years. At age nine, she earned a spot in a professional children’s theater in Manhattan’s garment district. By the time she graduated high school, she had performed in six original main stage musicals, a number of staged readings and landed small roles in a few PBS series’. She attended the “FAME” high school as a vocal music major, studying classical voice for four years and discovered her songwriting talent in jazz composition class. It was here that she found a way to combine her two passions: poetry and singing.
During her trips to the desert to visit her father, Julia finally found the inspiration she needed to start writing about more universal topics. “Of course there’s love and heartbreak, but what about life and light?” she says of her deepening awareness. She spent three years in the southwest desert perfecting her sound over mountaintops and playing guitar late into the night. “I found a certain kind of solitude out there, something that New York couldn’t provide,” she says. “I found my horizon, and a way to offer my voice to those incredible sunsets every time I sang.”
Julia released her debut album, Urban Legacy, in August 2007. Her father came into the studio to grace the track “Revolution”, resulting in an inspiring blend of jazzy guitar licks, rich harmonies, and deeply empowering lyrics. With other songs entitled “Awakened” and “Urban Legacy,” her influence on this new generation of music lovers is only just beginning. She has already graced the stages of many legendary venues, including New York’s Birdland and Sugar Bar; Los Angeles’ Room 5 Lounge, The Derby and Catalina Bar and Grill; and the Buzios Jazz y Blues Festival in Brazil.
Better get ready: Julia Jordan is about to take your heart and soul by storm.