Edward Kidd Jordan

1935 - 2023

Edward Kidd Jordan, the legendary improvisational saxophonist and music educator, was called home on April 7, 2023 surrounded by his loving family at the age of 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 preceded him in death, Mama Johnie, Adam, Yancy, Felton, Sammy, and Paul who died in infancy. He was the devoted husband to his sweetheart Edvidge Chatters Jordan for 69 glorious 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. He is also survived by a number of grandchildren, nieces and nephews, relatives and friends. Jordan is acclaimed internationally as one of the true master improvisers. Indie Jazz aptly describes Kidd Jordan 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. Jordan shared his gift of and passion for music for more than 50 years, 34 of which he spent at Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) until he retired in 2006 as head of the jazz studies program. He has performed and recorded with a broad array of musicians in styles ranging from R&B to avant-garde jazz, including Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Nancy Wilson, Gladys Knight, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, R.E.M., Art Neville, Aaron Neville, Johnny Adams, Fats Domino, Smokey Johnson, Dave Bartholomew, Deacon John, Ellis Marsalis, Cannonball Adderley, Alvin Batiste, Maynard Chatters, 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: William Houston, and Herb Tassin. A New Orleans resident, Jordan was born in Crowley, Louisiana, on May 5, 1935. He grew up listening to Zydeco and Blues while attending Ross High School. It was there that he learned to play saxophone from his music teachers; Warren Milson and Joseph Oger, a French-Canadian. After hearing Charlie Parker and Lester Young, he became interested in the art of jazz improvisation. His growth as a musician continued when he encountered Southern University Baton Rouge alums Emmett Jacobs and William Byrd. When Mr. Jordan landed in Baton Rouge from 1952 to 1955, he advanced his music studies under Southern University's band director T. Leroy Davis and woodwind teachers John Banks and Huel Perkins. While attending Southern, he also connected with another soon-to-be musical legend, his bandmate and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brother and future brother-in-law, the late Alvin Batiste. After his years at Southern University, Mr. Jordan began his journey 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 relocated in 1955 to New Orleans, where he began playing R&B alongside musicians such as Guitar Slim, Ray Charles, Big Maybelle, Big Joe Turner, Lloyd Lambert, Lawrence Cotton, Chuck Willis, George Adams, and Choker Campbell. He began playing R&B alongside musicians such as Guitar Slim, Ray Charles, Big Maybelle, Big Joe Turner, Lloyd Lambert, Lawrence Cotton, Chuck Willis, George Adams, and Choker Campbell. Jordan later earned his master's degree 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. In 1975 he founded the Improvisation Arts Quintet which recorded a remarkable catalogue of free-flowing instinctive interactive avant-garde music. Citing him as a visionary educator and performer, the French Government recognized Jordan in 1985 as a Knight (Chevalier) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, their nation's highest honor. For the past three decades Jordan had a highly productive relationship with drummer Alvin Fielder and bassist William Parker. Together with innovative pianist Joel Futterman they perform and record together. Jordan's first recording was titled, "No Compromise," and done in collaboration with Alvin Fielder, Clyde Kerr, Jr., Kent Jordan, Elton Heron, and London Branch. The album very accurately expresses Jordan's personal conviction about his music and friendship with original IAQ member, the late Alvin Thomas. Jordan was honored with Offbeat magazine's first Lifetime Achievement Award for Music Education, and his musical contributions have been documented on CBS' 60 Minutes. In 2008, Southern University at New Orleans Foundation honored Jordan during their annual BASH III, and Jordan received a Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the Vision Festival XIII in New York City. In 2013, the Jazz Journalist Association named Jordan a "Jazz Hero." In May of 2017, Jordan received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Loyola University New Orleans. In 2021, Kidd received 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 5th Edward "Kidd" Jordan Day in the City of New Orleans. Jordan was also recipient of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation Jazz Pioneer Award, and the Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp award from the New Orleans Arts & Cultural Host Committee. On May 20, 2020, Jordan celebrated his 85th birthday with the announcement of his final album, "Last Trane to New Orleans," produced by his daughter Rachel produced and engineered by grandson Paul Sims. The album showcases 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. His Celebration of Life will be held at Gallier Hall, 545 St. Charles Avenue, on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. Visitation will begin at 8:00 a.m. Interment: Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Please visit www.rhodesfuneral.com to sigh the guestbook. Final arrangements have been entrusted to D.W. Rhodes Funeral Home. The funeral services will be available for live viewing on www.KiddJordan.com, via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84163191593, or by using the referenced QR Code. More information about Kidd Jordan may be found at www.KiddJordan.com or by visiting Kidd Jordan Electronic Press Kit. In lieu of flowers, the Jordan family requests that donation be made to either the Louis Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp, https://louisarmstrongjazzcamp.com/, or Music Alive Ensemble of New Orleans, https://www.musicaliveno.org/.