Jazz saxophonist and music trainer Edward “Kidd” Jordan died in his sleep Friday (April 7), surrounded by household at his New Orleans residence, household publicist Vincent Sylvain stated. He was 87.
Throughout his 50-year profession, Jordan showcased his musical abilities throughout New Orleans whereas additionally collaborating with music legends like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Surprise and extra.
Born in Crowley in 1935, Jordan moved to New Orleans at 20 years outdated and created The Improvisation Arts Quintet in 1975. The group produced a various catalogue of avant-garde music described as “an evolution of complementary imagery shifting collectively and aside, every artist turning into an ear, a watch and most of all a coronary heart for the sake of the inventive non secular soul.”
He was a music professor at Southern College of New Orleans, later turning into chairman of the college’s jazz research program.
Throughout his 34 years at SUNO, “he shared his imaginative and prescient of improvisation and inspired college students to seek out their genuine inventive voices,” Sylvain stated. “Mr. Jordan’s legacy is solidified by his insistence that his college students’ music comprise one essential ingredient — originality. And he practices what he preaches.”
Jordan additionally was an teacher on the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Basis’s College of Music for 25 years and served as inventive director for the Louis Armstrong Satchmo Jazz Camp. He retired in 2006.
“Kidd devoted his life to educating kids of all ages. His passing is the top of an period of music schooling in New Orleans,” stated Jackie Harris, government director of the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Instructional Basis.
“His spirit and willpower was a shining instance that gave musicians the arrogance to precise themselves with ‘No Compromise,’” stated Harris, referencing Jordan’s first document, No Compromise.
Distinguished former college students embrace Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Jon Batiste, Donald Harrison Jr., Tony Dagradi, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and “Massive” Sam Williams.
Jordan additionally taught his seven kids, Edward Jr., Kent, Christie, Paul, Stephanie, Rachel and Marlon. 4 of them turned skilled musicians: Kent on flute, Stephanie as a singer, Rachel as a classical violinist and Marlon on trumpet.
The French Ministry of Tradition in 1985 anointed him a knight, or chevalier, of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, a prestigious award given to those that have produced distinctive work in arts or literature. Jordan additionally obtained a Lifetime Achievement Honoree recognition on the Imaginative and prescient Pageant XIII in New York in 2008, and was named a “jazz hero” by the Jazz Journalist Affiliation in 2013.
Along with his kids, Jordan is survived by his spouse, Edvidge Chatters Jordan.
Funeral preparations are pending.
