Ed Jordan
Encyclopedia
Ed Jordan is a South African musician, composer, singer-songwriter, actor, TV and radio presenter. His most recent work was for Spud
the Movie starring John Cleese
, where he wrote and produced the orchestral score and the theme songs as working as music supervisor on the film . Jordan is known in South Africa for his pop rock
songs and ballads, presenting the TV show Deal Or No Deal
and for his Beautiful Creatures children’s brand, which he co-founded in 2004.
The Beautiful Creatures Musical is in rehearsal for it’s December run at Monte Casino. Jordan is also busy with the music for two episodes of the Wild at Heart T.V. Series
, working with director Darryl Roodt
. He is also working on the release of his "The Best of Ed Jordan" compilation, which is due for release on 11 November, 2011.Some of his most recent work was for Spud the Movie
starring John Cleese, where he wrote and produced the orchestral score and the theme songs and working as music supervisor on the film.
which is where his first recordings were made as a boy: “I know that my redeemer liveth” and “Cantate Domino”. Most of his youth was spent singing in church choirs and playing piano at school where he developed an obsession with pop music
. 1991 saw the release of his first single "Dream" off the Fly to Me album, which went to number 1 on the South African Music Charts. His second solo studio album 'Hear me Howling was released in 1996, winning him a South African Music Award
(S.A.M.A.) It featured the hit "Always" . His third solo album Crazy featured the hits "Crazy", "Your Man", "To have and to hold" and "Where did I go wrong".
His original carol "African Christmas" reached Gold Single status after its release in 1998 and is now sung by school children and in churches all across South Africa.
During the 90's, Jordan wrote and played keyboard for South African acts, Wendy Oldfield, T.K., the Rasta Rebels and Mango Groove
. He has also supported Bryan Ferry
, Hootie and the Blowfish, Crowded House
and Ronan Keating
on their South African tours. Following the success of Jordan’s TV program "The Wedding Show", he released his 4th solo Album, "For Always" featuring the hit single "Goddess". “Tonight”, Jordan’s fifth studio album, features the singles “Tonight’,” I’ve got your number!” and “Two Strangers” which went to No 1. on the S.A Take 40 on the 6th of September 2008.
for three seasons and was a member of the panel of sports show "Super Saturday" for eight years on the SuperSport channel. He also co-presented The Wedding Show, Popstars and Fast Forward for the SABC.
writing and producing the score for the award winning film "Monument" as well as producing the music for the internationally acclaimed play Woyzeck on the Highveld
which has toured all over the world. He's also worked with Academy Award nominated South African director Darryl Roodt
writing and performing the theme song for his film "To the Death". In 1999 he co-wrote the musical Love, crime and Johannesburg with Malcolm Purkey and the cast, and ran at the Grahamstown Festival
and then at The Market Theatre. Jordan composed and produced the score and theme songs for Spud the Movie
, starring John Cleese and Troye Sivan
. He was also music supervisor on the film.
, producing comedy songs for “The Rude Awakening” on 94.7 Highveld Stereo, Jordan spent two and a half years (2005-2008) as co-host of Kaya FM’s breakfast show, ”Live and Switched on” .
Spud (film)
Spud is a South African film directed by Donovan Marsh, based on the novel of the same name by John van de Ruit. The film stars Troye Sivan as the title character. It was released in South Africa on 3 December 2010.-Plot:...
the Movie starring John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
, where he wrote and produced the orchestral score and the theme songs as working as music supervisor on the film . Jordan is known in South Africa for his pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
songs and ballads, presenting the TV show Deal Or No Deal
Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases with certain sums of money...
and for his Beautiful Creatures children’s brand, which he co-founded in 2004.
The Beautiful Creatures Musical is in rehearsal for it’s December run at Monte Casino. Jordan is also busy with the music for two episodes of the Wild at Heart T.V. Series
Wild at Heart (TV series)
Wild at Heart is a current ITV television drama series about a Bristol-based vet and his family emigrating to start a game park in South Africa. The show premiered in January 2006 and has recently finished screening its sixth series...
, working with director Darryl Roodt
Darrell Roodt
Darrell Roodt is a South African film director, screenwriter and producer.His film Sarafina was screened out of competition at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.-Awards:...
. He is also working on the release of his "The Best of Ed Jordan" compilation, which is due for release on 11 November, 2011.Some of his most recent work was for Spud the Movie
Spud (film)
Spud is a South African film directed by Donovan Marsh, based on the novel of the same name by John van de Ruit. The film stars Troye Sivan as the title character. It was released in South Africa on 3 December 2010.-Plot:...
starring John Cleese, where he wrote and produced the orchestral score and the theme songs and working as music supervisor on the film.
Early life/ Education
Jordan was schooled at St John's College (Johannesburg, South Africa) in Johannesburg and then at Diocesan College in Cape Town where he took music as a major studying piano and voice. He went on to complete an Honors Degree in Dramatic Art at at Wits University. During his third year his performance as Shakespeare’s Macbeth in 1989 was spotted by an agent /producer. She helped start his professional career. His honors thesis was on “crossover music” using South African group Mango Groove as a case study. Jordan would later write and play keyboards for this multi platinum-selling band.Music
Jordan’s background is in church musicChurch music
Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...
which is where his first recordings were made as a boy: “I know that my redeemer liveth” and “Cantate Domino”. Most of his youth was spent singing in church choirs and playing piano at school where he developed an obsession with pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. 1991 saw the release of his first single "Dream" off the Fly to Me album, which went to number 1 on the South African Music Charts. His second solo studio album 'Hear me Howling was released in 1996, winning him a South African Music Award
South African Music Awards
The South African Music Awards are an annual award ceremony, run by the Recording Industry of South Africa , where accolades are presented to members of South Africa's music industry. Winners receive a statuette is called a SAMA. The event was established in 1995...
(S.A.M.A.) It featured the hit "Always" . His third solo album Crazy featured the hits "Crazy", "Your Man", "To have and to hold" and "Where did I go wrong".
His original carol "African Christmas" reached Gold Single status after its release in 1998 and is now sung by school children and in churches all across South Africa.
During the 90's, Jordan wrote and played keyboard for South African acts, Wendy Oldfield, T.K., the Rasta Rebels and Mango Groove
Mango Groove
Mango Groove is an 11-piece South African Afropop band whose music fuses marabi, kwela, and pop music. They have sold more than 700,000 albums in South Africa....
. He has also supported Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
, Hootie and the Blowfish, Crowded House
Crowded House
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn is the primary songwriter and creative director of the band, having led it through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand , Australia and the United States...
and Ronan Keating
Ronan Keating
Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...
on their South African tours. Following the success of Jordan’s TV program "The Wedding Show", he released his 4th solo Album, "For Always" featuring the hit single "Goddess". “Tonight”, Jordan’s fifth studio album, features the singles “Tonight’,” I’ve got your number!” and “Two Strangers” which went to No 1. on the S.A Take 40 on the 6th of September 2008.
Television
Jordan was the host of M-Net's Deal Or No DealDeal or No Deal (South Africa)
In 2007, M-Net South African launched a version of Deal or No Deal. The show premiered on February 4, 2007, and airs every Sunday at 6PM. South Africa is only the second country in Africa to get its own version of the show, after Tunisia...
for three seasons and was a member of the panel of sports show "Super Saturday" for eight years on the SuperSport channel. He also co-presented The Wedding Show, Popstars and Fast Forward for the SABC.
Film Music / Theatre
Jordan has worked with artist William KentridgeWilliam Kentridge
William Kentridge is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films. These are constructed by filming a drawing, making erasures and changes, and filming it again. He continues this process meticulously, giving each change to the drawing a quarter of a second to two...
writing and producing the score for the award winning film "Monument" as well as producing the music for the internationally acclaimed play Woyzeck on the Highveld
Woyzeck
Woyzeck is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. He left the work incomplete at his death, but it has been variously and posthumously "finished" by a variety of authors, editors and translators. Woyzeck has become one of the most performed and influential plays in the German theatre...
which has toured all over the world. He's also worked with Academy Award nominated South African director Darryl Roodt
Darrell Roodt
Darrell Roodt is a South African film director, screenwriter and producer.His film Sarafina was screened out of competition at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.-Awards:...
writing and performing the theme song for his film "To the Death". In 1999 he co-wrote the musical Love, crime and Johannesburg with Malcolm Purkey and the cast, and ran at the Grahamstown Festival
National Arts Festival
The National Arts Festival is one of the most important events on the South African cultural calendar, and the biggest annual celebration of the arts on the African continent....
and then at The Market Theatre. Jordan composed and produced the score and theme songs for Spud the Movie
Spud (film)
Spud is a South African film directed by Donovan Marsh, based on the novel of the same name by John van de Ruit. The film stars Troye Sivan as the title character. It was released in South Africa on 3 December 2010.-Plot:...
, starring John Cleese and Troye Sivan
Troye Sivan
Troye Sivan, born Troye Sivan Mellet , is an Australian child actor and singer. He played Young James Howlett in the X-Men film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and most recently starred in the film Spud-Personal life:...
. He was also music supervisor on the film.
Radio
After working with breakfast show host Jeremy MansfieldJeremy Mansfield
Jeremy Mansfield is a South African radio and television personality. He has worked on numerous radio stations as presenter and voice-over artist, and has also presented numerous television shows, and inserts for some popular television magazine programmes....
, producing comedy songs for “The Rude Awakening” on 94.7 Highveld Stereo, Jordan spent two and a half years (2005-2008) as co-host of Kaya FM’s breakfast show, ”Live and Switched on” .
Beautiful Creatures
In 2004, together with Alan Glass and Paul Choritz, Jordan formed Beautiful Creatures, a South African children’s brand specializing in “parent friendly” children’s music. He co-wrote, recorded and produced the platinum selling debut "Beautiful Creatures”, a CD aimed at children from 2 to 8 years of age. The “Beautiful Creatures” range now has seven titles: “Beautiful Creatures”, “More Beautiful Creatures” and “Even More Beautiful Creatures” fun educational animal songs; ”Beautiful Me”, an album that deals with emotional development in children. ”Beautiful Bedtime”, “Beautiful Creatures of the Sea” and “Beautiful Lullabies”. The company now also has a clothing range, books, educational toys and a stage show. Beautiful Creatures won a Naledi Award for the category of “Best Production of a Play or Musical for Children”, in March 2011.Awards
South African Music Award for best Adult Contemporary album for Hear me Howling in 1997.Personal Life
Jordan is the son of former Business Day newspaper theatre critic Mary Jordan, and Edward Jordan, former MD of his family business Kirchhoff’s Seeds. He has one sister, Katie, and lives in Johannesburg with his wife Tamsin and daughter Sophia.Philanthropic activities
In 2005 Jordan was appointed by Sun International as Music Ambassador for Positive Rocks, a concept that combines art, music, food and fashion to raise money for the Tapologo Aids Hospice. Positive Rocks is a Sun International initiative that raises awareness of H.I.V. and Aids in South Africa.External links
- Beautiful Creatures
- John Cleese
- St John's College
- Diocesan College
- Wits University
- Mango Groove
- Fly to Me
- South African Music Awards
- Bryan Ferry
- Hootie and the Blowfish
- Crowded House
- Ronan Keating
- Take 40 S.A
- SuperSport
- Popstars
- SABC
- Love, crime and Johannesburg
- The Market Theatre
- 94.7 Highveld Stereo
- Kaya FM
- Johannesburg
- Sun International
- Tapologo Aids Hospice