Thursday, May 5, marks the 87th birthday of Kidd Jordan, jazz saxophonist and music educator. The New Orleans City Council will proclaim the day Kidd Jordan Day with a ceremony before the council’s weekly meeting on the first floor of City Hall, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
A reception will begin between 9 and 9:30 a.m. and Jordan is expected to attend.
Jordan was born in Crowley, Louisiana, on May 5, 1935. He would become an internationally acclaimed, saxophonist and one of the true master jazz improvisers.
According to Indie Jazz, Jordan is, “probably, the single most under-documented jazz musician of his generation, though…one of the busiest in the world.” A multi-reedist, he plays the baritone, soprano, C-melody and sopranino saxophones, as well as the contrabass and bass clarinet. For more than fifty years he has shared his gifts and passion for music. An educator, after thirty-four years, in 2006 Jordan retired as the chairman of the jazz studies program at Southern University in New Orleans (SUNO). Notably, he continues to serve as the artistic director of the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp since its 1995 inception.
Jordan holds a bachelor’s degree from Southern University and a Masters in Music from Millikin University and attended post-graduate summer studies at Northwestern University where he studied with Dr. Frederick L. Hemke. On May 13, 2017, Jordan received an Honorary Doctor of Music from Loyola University. In 1985, the French Ministry of Culture recognized him as a Knight (Chevalier) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the nation’s highest artistic honor given by the French government. He earned two Lifetime Achievement Awards, one from Offbeat, the magazine’s first for Music Education, and from the Vision Festival XIII in New York. The Jazz Journalist Association awarded Jordan a Jazz Hero award in 2013. His music contributions have also been documented on CBS’ 60 Minutes.
During his tenure at Southern University he organized the first performance of the historic World Saxophone Quartet featuring Hamiet Bluiett, David Murray, Julius Hemphill and Oliver Lake. The long list of artists with whom he’s performed include Cannonball Adderley, Ornette Coleman, Ellis Marsalis, Sun Ra, Ray Charles, Lena Horne, Aretha Franklin and Big Maybelle. Jordan founded the Improvisational Arts Ensemble with Alvin Fiedler, Clyde Kerr, Jr. and London Branch, later adding Alvin Thomas. Originality is Jordan’s legacy. “You’ve got to know yourself and what you’re capable of doing and how you want to do it,” he said.
Hundreds of students, now well-known musicians, who spent years under Jordan’s tutelage include: Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Donald Harrison, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Julius Handy, Hurley Blanchard, Maynard Chatters, Jr., Elton Heron, Carl Leblanc, Darrell Lavigne, Tony Dagradi, Jonathan Batiste, Walter Smith, III and Courtney Bryan.
