TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
Edward "Kidd" Jordan 1935–2023 New Orleans Saxophonist, Music Educator
By Dr. Samuel Odom
“A renaissance man like Edward "Kidd" Jordan has tenacles that are deep and wide, he has contributed to the Nation, this State and the Community as an artist, scholar, and faculty member of Southern University at New Orleans.” Dr. Joseph Bouie, Jr.Former Chancellor, Southern University at New Orleans & Louisiana State Senator
E dward “Kidd” Jordan (Alpha Sigma 1953), a legendary im- provisational jazz artist, entered the Chapter Invisible on April 7, 2023, surrounded by his loving family at 87. He was the youngest child of the late Leonard Jordan and the late Pauline Pete Jordan. He was the much-loved brother to his six older siblings who proceeded him in death; Mary, Adam, Edger, Felton, Samuel, and Paul, who died in infancy. He was the devoted husband to Edvidge Chatters Jordan for 67 years. Their loving spirit flowed throughout their home and into the lives of their seven children: Edward Jordan, Jr., Kent Jordan, Christie Jordan Bibbins, Paul Jordan, Stephanie Jordan, Rachel Jordan, and Marlon Jordan. Early Beginnings Edward “Kidd” Jordan was born on May 5, 1935, and raised in Crowley, Louisiana, to loving parents who worked hard to build a happy home for their family. As a young boy, he loved music and the sounds of nature. His Grandma was Baptist and the music in her church made a deep impression on him. Brother Jordan grew up listening to Zydeco and Blues while attending Ross High School. There, he learned to play saxophone from his music teach- ers; Warren Milson and Joseph Oger, a French-Canadian. After hearing Charlie Parker and Lester Young, he became in- terested in the art of jazz improvisation.
His growth as a musician continued when he encountered Southern Univer- sity Baton Rouge alums Emmett Jacobs and William Byrd. When Mr. Jordan landed in Baton Rouge from 1952 to 1955, he advanced his music stud- ies under Southern University’s band director T. Leroy Davis and woodwind teachers John Banks and Huel Perkins. At Southern University, he also con- nected with another soon-to-be musical legend: his bandmate, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brother, and future brother-in- law, the late Alvin Batiste. After his years at Southern Univer- sity Baton Rouge, Jordan began his jour- ney to share his knowledge of music. Jordan began his formal teaching career in 1955 at Bethune High School in Norco, Louisiana. Prior to that, he spent time in New Orleans’ historic Faubourg Tremé as an instructor at the William Houston School of Music. Jordan relo- cated in 1955 to New Orleans; while teaching at SUNO, he simultaneously began playing R&B alongside musicians such as Guitar Slim, Ray Charles, Big Maybelle, Big Joe Turner, Lloyd Lam- bert, Lawrence Cotton, Chuck Willis, George Adams, and Choker Campbell. Jordan later earned his master’s de- gree in music from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where he studied under Drs. J. Roger Miller, Roger Schueler and Jean Northrup. Jordan’s post-graduate summer studies led him
to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he studied under Fred Hemker. His Life & Legacy For more than five decades, he was an educator and professional jazz musi- cian. Jordan is acclaimed internationally as one of the true master improvisers. Indie Jazz aptly describes him as a “genteel man” who is probably the single most under-documented jazz musician of his generation. He was recognized as a jazz maverick back in the 1940s, intent on exploring jazz-rooted music’s outer reaches. Brother Jordan shared his gift of and passion for music for more than five decades, three and one-fourth decades of which he spent at Southern Uni- versity at New Orleans (SUNO) until he retired in 2006 as head of the Jazz Studies Program. During these years, he was so proud of his students and felt that they were among the most talented musicians he had ever mentored. He was a master of many instru- ments; tenor, baritone, soprano, alto, C-melody and sopranino saxophones, as well as contrabass and bass clari- nets. He performed and recorded with a broad array of musicians in styles ranging from R&B to avant-garde jazz, including Lena Horne, Aretha Frank- lin, Nancy Wilson, Gladys Knight, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, The Temp- tations, R.E.M., Art Neville, Aaron
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