I took this photo at Luscher Charter School in New Orleans, LA
I was recently contacted by a Wikipedia contributor to licence one of my photos of Kidd Jordan for use on Wikipedia. I was happy to oblidge if not only to be able to show the rest of the world a little bit about one of my favorite New Orleans musicians. Mr. Jordan is one of the cities best, but seldom seen, saxaphone players. Through my work for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, I have had the privilege of meeting him several times at Luscher Charter School where he teaches weekly music classes for the Heritage School of Music. Please read the article and learn a litle bit about him. His music is available on iTunes. If you ever hear of him playing in New Orleans, please tell me. His shows are fantastic.
“Edward “Kidd” Jordan (born in Crowley, Louisiana, United States, May 5, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist and music educator from New Orleans, Louisiana.
After completing a music degree at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he relocated to New Orleans. He taught at Southern University at New Orleans from 1974 to 2006.
Jordan performs on tenor, baritone, soprano, alto, C-melody and sopranino saxophones, as well as contrabass and bass clarinets. He has performed and recorded with a wide selection of musicians in styles ranging from R&B to avant-garde jazz, including Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, William Parker, Alvin Fielder, Archie Shepp, Fred Anderson, Ornette Coleman, Ellis Marsalis, Cannonball Adderley, Ed Blackwell, and Cecil Taylor. In 2008 he was awarded a lifetime recognition honor by the Vision Festival.[1]
In his performances and recordings his music is entirely improvised: “Everything you hear on my albums is improvised.” he explains. “It’s collective improvisation, but there are no tunes. I tried writing down ideas a long time ago but I don’t do that anymore.”[2].
The French Ministry of Culture recognized Jordan as a Knight (Chevalier) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1985. The French government bestowed him with their highest artistic award for his impetus as a visionary educator and performer. His imaginative sense of listening first brought together four outstanding saxophonists[citation needed]: Julius Hemphill, Hamiet Bluiett, Oliver Lake, and David Murray, who as the World Saxophone Quartet would be one of the most outstanding jazz ensembles throughout the 1980s.
As an instructor of jazz studies at Southern University at New Orleans, Jordan encouraged his students to pursue new approaches to traditional musical forms. Taking up on his advice, one student named Charles Joseph, a young trombonist, would become the brainchild for The Dirty Dozen Brass Band sound. By mixing elements of traditional jazz, bebop, and free jazz with R&B music, the DDBB would revitalize the New Orleans’ brass band sound in the early 1980s. The brass band tune “Kidd Jordan’s Second Line” was written by Kidd on the eve of the DDBB first European appearance in 1982; furthermore, Kidd fronted the DDBB on sopranino for their controversial performance in Groningen, Netherlands. In time, “Kidd Jordan’s Second Line” would be recorded by the Dirty Dozen and Rebirth Brass Bands).” FULL ARTICLE.