TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
Neville, Johnny Adams, Ellis Marsalis, Cannonball Adderley, Alvin Batiste, Archie Shepp, Dewey Redmond, Fred Anderson, Ornette Coleman, Sun RA, William Parker, Hamid Drake, Alan Silva, Ed Blackwell, and Cecil Taylor, among others. He was a member of two prominent New Orleans Big Bands: Wil- liam Houston, and Herb Tassin. The Improvisation Arts Quintet, a group he founded with drummer Alvin Fielder, bassist London Branch, trum- peter Clyde Kerr, and saxophonist Alvin Thomas which later included, pianist Darrell Lavigne, pianist Joel Futter- man, bassist Elton Heron, flutist Kent Jordan and trumpeter Marlon Jordan has recorded a remarkable catalog of free-flowing instinctive interactive avant-garde music; in which collective passages of sounds become more than personal freedom, but an evolution of complimentary imagery moving together and apart; each performer becoming an ear, an eye and most of all a heart for the sake of the creative spiritual soul. Citing him as a visionary educator and performer, the French Government rec- ognized Kidd Jordan in 1985 as a Knight (Chevalier) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, their nation’s highest honor. As Chairman of Southern Univer- sity’s Jazz Studies Program, he organized the first performance of the legendary World Saxophone Quartet featuring Hamiet Bluiett, David Murray, Julius Hemphill, and Oliver Lake. For over two decades, he taught at the Jazz and Heritage School of Music and has served as Artistic Director for the Louis Armstrong Satchmo Jazz Camp, an outstanding community outreach jazz education program developed during Mayor Marc H. Morial’s Administration. He taught hundreds, if not thousands, of students, including well-known musi- cians Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Donald Harrison, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Leroy Adams, Calvin Johnson, Sammie “Big Sam”, William, Charles Joseph, Julius Handy, Curley
Blanchard, Gary Brown, Kirk Ford, Raymond Deggs, George Pack, Richard Moten, John Longo, Reggie Houston, Wendell Brunius, Abe Thompson, Richard Knox, Chris Severin, Brian Quezerque, Maynard Chatters, Jr., Elton Heron, Carl Leblanc, Darrell Lavigne, Tony Dagradi, and many, many others. He has been a musical example to his seven children, including four well- known professional musicians: Kent, a master flutist; Marlon, an acclaimed jazz trumpeter; Stephanie, a vocalist; and Rachel, a violinist. He was honored with Offbeat Maga- zine’s first Lifetime Achievement Award for Music Education and his music contributions have been documented on CBS’ 60 Minutes. In 2008, Southern University at New Orleans Founda- tion honored Kidd during their annual BASH III. Also in 2008, Kidd received a Lifetime Achievement Honor at the Vision Festival XIII in New York City. In 2013, The Jazz Journalist Association named Kidd a “Jazz Hero.” In May of 2017, Kidd received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Loyola University New Orleans, a distinction reserved at Loyola for eminent individuals whose lives of achievement and service exem- plify the philosophy of Jesuit education. For the past three decades, he has had a highly productive and close relationship with drummer Alvin Fielder and bassist William Parker. His relation- ship with innovative pianist Joel Futter- man since the early 90s has evolved into a unique kinship; more like two broth- ers. Kidd’s first recording, titled, “No Compromise”, accurately expresses his personal conviction about his music. Brother Jordan celebrated his 85 th birthday in May of 2020 with the release of his final album, “Last Trane to New Orleans”, which was produced by daughter Rachel and engineered by grandson Paul Sims. The album show- cases Kidd Jordan’s Avant-garde style and expresses his life experiences. The
live recording was held at McDonogh 35 Senior High School auditorium on the eve of the City-wide imposed Stay Home Coronavirus restrictions. In 2021. Kidd received the United States Artists Fellow Award supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. On Kidd’s 87th birthday on May 5, 2022, the New Orleans City Council proclaimed May 5 th Edward “Kidd” Jordan Day in the City of New Orleans. Jordan’s legacy is solidified by his insistence that his students’ music contains one critical element, original- ity. And he practices what he preaches. He once said, “Nowadays, everybody just wants to play the same stuff that everybody else is playing. Same solos, same licks, and I can see that, because everybody wants to be accepted, but I don't care about that. The minute someone wants to pat me on the back about something is the minute I’m ready to leave. You’ve got to know yourself and what you’re capable of doing and how you want to do it.” Brother Edward Jordan is survived by his Silhouette Edvidge Chatters Jor- dan, his seven children: Edward Jordan Jr (Doris), Kent Jordan (Christine), Christie Bibbins (Ernest), Paul Jordan (Zabrina), Stephanie Jordan, Rachel Jordan, and Marlon Jordan (Leslie). His 13 loving grandchildren; Paul Sims, Edvidge Bibbins, Arielle Jordan Cassidy, Rachel Jordan, Aja Jordan, Yasmeen Jor- dan, Edward Jordan, III, Christian Kidd Jordan, Laurie Jordan, Christie Jordan, Maya Jordan, Gia Jordan, and Brooklyn Jordan; nine adored great-grandchildren, and a host of nieces and nephews and close relatives and family friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Leonard Jordan and Pauline Pete, and six siblings, Mama Johnie, Adam Jordan, Edgar Jordan, Felton Domino, Samuel Jordan, and Paul Jordan. φν π
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