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Kidd Jordan
Internationally acclaimed, saxophonist, legend, Sir Edward “Kidd” Jordan was one of the true master improvisers. Born May 5, 1935 in Crowley, Louisiana, according to Indie Jazz, Jordan is, “probably, the single most under documented jazz musician of his generation, though…one of the busiest in the world.” A multi-reedist, he plays the baritone, soprano, C-melody and sopranino saxophones, as well as the contrabass and bass clarinet. For more than fifty years he has shared his gifts and passion for music. An educator, after thirty-four years, in 2006 Jordan retired as the chairman of the jazz studies program at Southern University in New Orleans (SUNO). Notably, he continues to serve as the artistic director of the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp since its 1995 inception.
Jordan holds a bachelor’s degree from Southern University and a Masters in Music from Millikin University and attended post-graduate summer studies at Northwestern University where he studied with Dr. Frederick L. Hemke. On May 13, 2017, Jordan received an Honorary Doctor of Music from Loyola University. In 1985, the French Ministry of Culture recognized him as a Knight (Chevalier) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the nation’s highest artistic honor given by the French government. He earned two Lifetime Achievement Awards, one from Offbeat magazine, their first, for Music Education and from the, Vision Festival XIII (NYC). The Jazz Journalist Association awarded Jordan their (2013) “Jazz Hero” award. His music contributions have also been documented on CBS’ 60 Minutes.
During his tenure at Southern University he organized the first performance of the historic World Saxophone Quartet featuring Hamiet Bluiett, David Murray, Julius Hemphill and Oliver Lake. The long list of artists with whom he’s performed range from Cannonball Adderley, Ornette Coleman, Ellis Marsalis, Sun Ra, Ray Charles, Lena Horne, Aretha Franklin to Big Maybelle. Jordan founded the Improvisational Arts Ensemble with Alvin Fiedler, Clyde Kerr, Jr. and London Branch, later adding Alvin Thomas. Originality is Jordan’s legacy, he says, “you’ve got to know yourself and what you’re capable of doing and how you want to do it.” His first recording titled, No Compromise, describes how he feels about his music.
Hundreds of students, now well-known musicians, who spent years under Jordan’s tutelage include: Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Donald Harrison, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Julius Handy, Hurley Blanchard, Maynard Chatters, Jr., Elton Heron, Carl Leblanc, Darrell Lavigne, Tony Dagradi, Jonathan Batiste, Walter Smith, III and Courtney Bryan.
Kidd is most proud as a husband to Edvidge Chatters Jordan and father to Edward Jr., Kent, Christie, Paul, Stephanie, Rachel and Marlon.
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Dopolarians: Garden Party
by Giuseppe Segala
Non si potrebbe trovare un titolo più calzante di questo Garden Party, per un disco che in tutta la propria estensione si dipana come un incontro piacevole tra vecchi amici, avvezzi a dialogare in tutta rilassatezza, perché conoscono bene il reciproco carattere, sanno dove il discorso andrà a parare e lo gestiscono in modo leggero. Ma l'incontro non si adagia sul già previsto: non mancano infatti le arguzie inattese, i reciproci stimoli di chi mette in campo tutta la propria ...
read moreEdward 'Kidd' Jordan, Joel Futterman, William Parker, Hamid Drake: A Tribute to Alvin Fielder - Live at Vision Festival XXIV
by Troy Dostert
When the free jazz world lost drummer Alvin Fielder in 2019, it lamented the passing of someone who had in many ways worked to expand the reach of avant-garde jazz, to widen its accessibility to fans and students alike. His well-known status as a founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and Black Arts Music Society, not to mention his participation on seminal recordings like Roscoe Mitchell's Sound (Delmark, 1966), should not overshadow his presence ...
read moreDay and Taxi, Adam Rudolph, Harish Raghavan and More
by Maurice Hogue
First out of the mixed bag of audio treats this week (it's Halloween after all!) is a track from Oliver Lake's first recording 43 years ago Ntu: The Point from Which Creation Begins. I haven't played Oliver in a while and that seemed like a good place to begin catching up. Adam Rudolph's epic project, Ragmala, combines his Go: Organic Orchestra with the Brooklyn Raga Massive for a 40-musician rhythm-rich set of music. Smaller groups debuting new releases are Swiss ...
read moreKidd Jordan & Hamid Drake: A Night In November - Live in New Orleans
by Dave Wayne
Hard to believe, but A Night In November--Live in New Orleans is the first drums / saxophone duet recording by legendary New Orleans free jazz saxophonist and educator Kidd Jordan. He's accompanied by a true kindred spirit, Hamid Drake. Though both have made names for themselves in the rarefied world of free improvisation, neither are shy about their roots in more traditional forms of jazz, blues, soul, and R&B. Jordan, now almost 80 years old, is a remarkable figure whose ...
read moreKidd Jordan/Alvin Fielder/Peter Kowald: Trio and Duo in New Orleans
by John Sharpe
Tenor saxophonist Edward Kidd Jordan and drummer Alvin Fielder have been a fixture in their southern outpost for nigh on forty years, but they've rarely been heard to such good effect as on Trio and Duo in New Orleans. This wonderful two CD set brings together music from three separate dates. The first disc (also available as a double LP) comprises a 70-minute exchange between the American pair and hugely talented peripatetic German bassist Peter Kowald in April 2002, five ...
read moreKidd Jordan / Alvin Fielder /Peter Kowald: Trio and Duo in New Orleans
by Glenn Astarita
Eminent avant-garde saxophonist Edward “Kidd" Jordan doesn't venture outside the New Orleans area that often, but like- minded artists will occasionally make the trip to the Big Easy to unite in the studio or for a live date. Such is the case here on this 2-disc set, capturing Jordan in trio and duo settings with late, bass great Peter Kowald and a forefather of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, drummer Alvin Fielder. The trio performance ...
read moreKidd Jordan & Hamid Drake: A Night In November - Live in New Orleans
by Glenn Astarita
New Orleans is valued for its storied traditional jazz legacy, and not so much for avant-garde persuasions. But when it comes to off-center or free-jazz music, saxophonist Kidd Jordan's artistic persona frequently becomes a topic of conversation. He's performed and recorded with iconoclastic musicians and is perhaps the Crescent City's most prolific improviser. This excursion features his duets with the exceptional Chicago jazz drummer Hamid Drake, segmented into two sets and emanating from their encounter in front of a small ...
read moreAbbey Rader & Kidd Jordan Release First Album Together - "Reunion"
Source:
Kai Rader
In a busy summer, Abbey Rader has released his second recording in as many months. Reunion is a collaboration with saxophonist Kidd Jordan. The album is their first together. It follows the June release of It's Time, a duet session with Abbey and longtime collaborator Peter Ponzol. The chain of events that led to Reunion can be traced to the early 2000s. Abbey was on tour with Billy Bang and Frank Lowe when the band performed at the Zeitgeist Arts ...
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Kidd Jordan - On Fire (Engine, 2011)
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Music and More by Tim Niland
New Orleans music isn't totally about the neo-traditionalism of the Marsalis clan and Donald Harrison, although no disrespect is meant to those musicians. Saxophonist Kidd Jordan takes the lessons of growing up as a musician in the south and New Orleans in general and combines with the open ended nature of free jazz to develop music bringing strong images, memories, and feelings to mind. He is aided and abetted by Warren Smith on percussion and vibraphone and Harrison Bankhead on ...
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Ellis Marsalis, T. S. Monk, Kidd Jordan, and the Jordan Family of Jazz Honors Thelonious Monk on Fathers Day Weekend
Source:
Sylvain Music Notes
"For the Fathers of Jazz" New Orleans jazz patriarch Kidd Jordan and the Jordan Family of Jazz; Marlon Jordan, considered one of the best trumpeters in the world; older brother Kent Jordan, a highly regarded flutist; Stephanie Jordan, whom critics have placed in the company of Nancy Wilson and Shirley Horn; and Rachel Jordan, an classical violinist and music instructor at Jackson State University performs as featured artists at the For the Fathers of Jazz concert in honor of jazz ...
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New Orleans' Kidd Jordan Featured at 15th Other Minds Music Festival
Source:
Michael Ricci
New Orleans saxophonist and jazz patriarch Kidd Jordan has been invited to perform at the 15th Other Minds Music Festival in San Francisco. Other Minds, in cooperation with the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, the Eugene and Elinor Friend Center for the Arts of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, and the Polish Cultural Institute in New York, is bringing together some of the most innovative musical minds at work in the world today. Three days of public performances from ...
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Kidd Jordan to Receive 2009 Asante Legend Award
Source:
All About Jazz
Edward Kidd Jordan has been announced as a recipient of the 2009 Asante Awards in the area of Music Education; The Year of the Legends.The 2009 Asante Awards and Festival will held at the Mahaila Jackson Theatre of Performing Arts in New Orleans, Louisiana in the famed Louis Armstrong Park/Congo Square on Wednesday, July 1, 2009. Produced by NOLA.TV, this year's event pays tribute to New Orleans Legends in the field of Jazz, Music Education, Theatre, Gospel, Spoken Words, Business, ...
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Saxophonist Kidd Jordan Profiled at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
“Oh yes, I lost compositions, all my music, my instruments... pretty much everything," smiles Kidd Jordan.
He hasn't actually mentioned Hurricane Katrina by name, nor does his voice betray the bitterness he must still feel, even two-and-a-half years after the disaster that nearly cost him members of his family.
There is gentleness in his delivery, but it's underpinned by steel, by a determination to press on in the face of unbelievable tragedy and to do so with an unpretentiously positive ...
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Kidd Jordan's Sax is Honored at the Clemente Soto Velez
Source:
Michael Ricci
A Sax Man of Distinction and That Vision Thing
To the extent that the tenor saxophonist Kidd Jordan is known in the general jazz world, he's known as a New Orleans patriarch and educator. Dig deeper and you might also hear about his long, eclectic career as a sideman and his role in inspiring the formation of both the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the World Saxophone Quartet. But Mr. Jordan, 73, has never made much of a dent as ...
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Reviews of Kidd Jordan at Vision Festival XIII
Source:
Improvised Communications
Critics review the lifetime achievement celebration of Kidd Jordan in the New York Press, New York Sun and New York Times. The Vision Festival continues through Sunday night. About Kidd Jordan Edward Kidd Jordan's multi-faceted legacy is among of the most influential and enduring in the history of improvised music. An integral part of the seminal musical tapestry of New Orleans, he is the patriarch of one of the city's most respected musical families and his parallel careers as a ...
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Vision Festival XIII to Honor New Orleans Jazz Legend Kidd Jordan June 11th
Source:
Improvised Communications
On Wednesday, June 11th, Vision Festival XIII will present an entire night of music dedicated to this year's special honoree, New Orleans saxophonist and educator Edward “Kidd" Jordan. Five groups, four featuring Jordan himself, will pay tribute to a musical legacy that spans more than a half century. Advance tickets are available online or by phone at 1- 800-838-3006.
Jordan will be joined on stage by collaborators from throughout his career, including Fred Anderson, Billy Bang, Hamiet Bluiett, Dave Burrell, ...
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New CD! Kali. Z. Fasteau & Kidd Jordan - Live at the Kerava Jazz Festival: Finland
Source:
All About Jazz
LIVE AT THE KERAVA JAZZ FESTIVAL: FINLAND (FNCD 9012) KALI. Z. FASTEAU / KIDD JORDAN NEWMAN TAYLOR BAKER FLYING NOTE Records proudly announces the release of LIVE at the Kerava Jazz Festival: Finland (FNCD 9012). Recorded and mixed by the Finnish radio on June 9, 2007, this CD documents for presenters and fans alike what they will hear when Kali. Z. performs LIVE in concert. In a riveting sequence of 9 compositions on 9 different instruments, Kali trance-ports the audience ...
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Kidd Jordan
Instrument: Saxophone
Born: May 5, 1935
Died: April 7, 2023
