With Kidd Jordan: His Sense of Humor

In which Kidd Jokes a Lot and Learns that His JAMBAR award may Enable Travel

Like many, I contemplate today, Easter Sunday, memories and images of Edward “Kidd” Jordan a few days after his passing late last week.

Kidd was 87. He’d played out on saxophones, across Louisiana from his hometown of Crowley on the western Prairie, and then round the world, since the middle 1950s. He’d taught students music almost as long a span of decades, retiring from Southern University of New Orleans and as Artistic Director of the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp just before “ ‘COVID-19” ‘ projected Lockdowns of Classrooms in Spring 2020. His students were legion. Many became famous (Jon Bastiste, Troy Andrews—Trombone Shorty, Christian Scott aTundé Adjuah, Donald Harrison Jr., Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Roger Lewis, Kirk Joseph, …) and an even greater number became educators themselves. He taught them that always the first thing after learning to play your instrument proficiently was to express your own voice. He raised seven children with his wife Edvidge. He was a patriarch who remained defiant, exploratory and revolutionary as his early efforts to achieve the songs and sounds of birds on his horn were

He’d gained renown in Europe over four decades ago. France knighted him as Chevalier in 1985. Ornette Coleman advised Eddie Harris to seek him out for practice around that time. He sought out Fred Anderson in Chicago like he’d traveled north to John and Alice Coltrane’s “out” gigs in 1966. Wherever there was something new to be heard and to be made, that space of creation was for him, even as he stayed home to teach and raise his family and race thoroughbred horses and expand possibilities in New Orleans and beyond. He brought Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and David Murray together for a concert at SUNO in 1976. They soon were the World Saxophone Quartet.

See Micheal Wilderman’s photos.

See Bill Shoemaker’s website and archives.

Kidd said: “Every hit with Fred was memorable.”

We met on-stage in December 2013. Kidd called Maryse at WWOZ and asked if I’d like to perform with him at a Birthday Party for Eduardo Young at Café Istanbul the next week. I said: “Wow, of course, yes! It’s an honor.”

The performance began with a misapprehension. I was testing the sound-system with the loudest utterance I was likely to make, the “Bee-Wah” that opens ‘Blue Lightning’ and its quoting of ‘two Sonnys from the South’—Heavyweight Boxing Champion Charles “Sonny” Liston” and Arkestra bandleader and composer Sun Ra (Herman “Sonny” Blount).

Kidd joined in. We were away. Videographer Aristide Phillips, 23 then and a recent graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, said: “It took awhile, but around halfway the music and the words began to gel.”

The next performance with him was a Benefit for the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp, again at Chuck Perkins’ Café Istanbul. Guest artist was Oliver Lake. Alvin Fielder, Darrel Lavigne, and Brian Querzegue completed the band. The poem I chose honored Glenn Spearman, a composer and saxophonist Kidd and Oliver knew from either 1970s’ Paris or Cecil Taylor’s larger bands of the early 1990s. I announced: “This is a poem titled ‘Fanfare’ and it’s a tribute to Glenn Spearman.”

And just like that Kidd played in a tootling tune the “Fanfare” familiar to movie-watchers of Arthurian Pageants and Cartoons of Mice in Armor: “Doot-da-da-Doot-la-da-Doot-la-da-Doo.

Four years later we were with Hamid Drake and Alex de Grassi in Rick G. Nelson’s Marigny Studio to sound-track for Melissa Gregory Rue’s documentary about three once-homeless movie-makers in Portland, Oregon, “Live Out Loud”. Kidd told Alex and Hamid a story about recording with Ray Charles and going off-chart.

“He caught me. He said: ‘That’s not right! You’re supposed to be G-7. Simple—G7. What ‘d you play?’ I bluffed him. I knew what was written. I said: ‘No—it’s Diminished. Doubling up.Listen. Different.” He just grunted. But he let it go.”

Kidd tells how Ray caught him. Then the punch-line. Photos by Ryan Hodgson Rigsbee.

As always when with musicians who heard him and improvised in surprising accord with him, Kidd was happen in the session for Melissa'‘s “Live Out Loud”. Photos again by RHR.

The next year, November 1, 2019, Kidd made out for the Standing-Room-Only crowd attending our ‘Honoring the Kidd’ concert in the New Orleans Jazz Museum Theater that he could NOT feature what might be about in trying to blend Bela Bartok “Music for Strings, Percussion and Celestina” into Albert King’s “Born Under A Bad Sign.”

Roger Lewis, Kidd’s 1977 student at Southern Univerity of New Orleans, looks on as Kidd doubts that Bela and Albert can get along.

Three years later the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana issued their joint Proclamation that May 5 was Kidd Jordan Day in the City and State …. Forever. A very fine biopic-in-progess about Kidd, titled “Bringing on the Hallalujah” and produced by Arts for Art and Patricia Nicholson Parker and William Parker, the towering bandleader, bassist and composer, showed in the Council Chambers.

See the whole of the ceremony and testimonials for Kidd through the Council’s video. Staring around 28:00 and closing aroud 60:00, with speaking around 54:00 to 60:00.

Kidd spoke after his introduction by the sponsoring Council Member, Oliver Thomas. He joked about how he used to drive crowds from the Dew Drop Inn and from JazzFest Tents with the first blare of his saxophone, decades ago. “Now it’s a little different … Because music is always developing. Music comes from everywhere. Hear that? Hear that sound up around the ceiling. I can play with that. That’s music. Anything you can hear, that’s music, and so music is going to keep developing. Music has to develop. Hear that? Watch out!”

Photos of Kidd and family and Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp founder Jackie Harris and Council Members followed.

In the hallway outside Chambers, Sticking Up For Children had the pleasure of presenting Kidd with a surprise award through funding by the new, JAMBAR ‘Organic Artisan Energy Bar’ company. He was quiet, even dour (in fact we both looked 21-century American Gothic), before he and daughters Rachel and Stephanie learned what the award might enable him to do.

So long, dear Kidd. We’ll see and hear you … forever!

JAMBARs can be found at JAMBAR.com.

Rachel Jordan is principal in the creation and maintenance of a very fine and comprehensive website.

Over 25 links to Kidd’s albums and performances will be found on this Web-page of my We Are Revolutions and You Are Here to Shine site.