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Louisiana native and "jazz hero" Kidd Jordan dies at 87

During his 50-year career, saxophonist Kidd Jordan played alongside avant-garde Jazz and R&B bands in New Orleans. He also taught music at several schools like SUNO.

NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana native, former SUNO professor, and “jazz maverick” Sir Edward “Kidd” Jordan has passed away.

He died peacefully in his sleep while at home with family Friday morning, according to family publicist Vincent Sylvain.

During his 50-year music career, Jordan showcased his talents on tenor, soprano, alto, soprano, sopranino, and C-melody saxophones across New Orleans. Sylvain said Jordan was a “genteel man” while also being one of the “busiest musicians in the world.” Aside from his own remarkable discography, he also collaborated with music legends including Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, and more.

Born in Crowley in 1935, Sylvain says Jordan grew up listening to Zydeco and Blues music. His music teachers taught him to play saxophone, which was the foundation of a 50-year career to follow. He attended Southern University in Baton Rouge where he met his bandmate and future brother-in-law, Alvin Batiste.

Jordan moved to New Orleans at 20 years old, where he performed with several jazz bands and artists like Ray Charles. He was a bandmember for New Orleans stars William Houston and Herb Tassin before creating “The Improvisation Arts Quintet” in 1975. The quintet produced a diverse catalogue of avant-garde music that has been described as “an evolution of complimentary imagery moving together and apart, each artist becoming an ear, an eye and most of all a heart for the sake of the creative spiritual soul.”

While he was performing in New Orleans, he also taught music at Bethune High School in Norco. He was also taught at the William Houston School of Music.

In 1972, Jordan took his expertise to higher education -- becoming a music professor at Southern University at New Orleans. He later became the chairman of the university’s Jazz Studies Program, where he organized the first performance of the World Saxophone Quartet featuring Hamiet Bluitt, David Murray, Julius Hemphil, and Oliver Lake.

During his 34 years at SUNO, “he shared his vision of improvisation and encouraged students to find their authentic creative voices,” Sylvain said. “Mr. Jordan’s legacy is solidified by his insistence that his students’ music contain one critical element---originality. And he practices what he preaches.”

SUNO students were not the only ones learning from the legendary musician. Jordan was an instructor at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation's School of Music for 25 years. He also served as Artistic Director for the Louis Armstrong Satchmo Jazz Camp. He retired in 2006.

“Kidd dedicated his life to teaching youngsters of all ages. His passing is the end of an era of music education in New Orleans,” said Jackie Harris, Executive Director of the Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong Educational Foundation. “His spirit and determination was a shining example that gave musicians the confidence to express themselves with ‘No Compromise,’” said Harris, referencing his first record “No Compromise.”

His talent even piqued the interest of the French Government who recognized him as a chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, a prestigious award given to those who have produced exceptional work in arts or literature.  

Jordan also received a Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the Vision Festival XIII in New York in 2008, and he was named a “jazz hero” by the Jazz Journalist Association in 2013.

In May of 2017, Jordan received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Loyola University New Orleans. The University says that honorary degree is reserved to outstanding, successful people who “exemplify the philosophy of Jesuit education.”

In 2020, he celebrated his 85th birthday with the release of his final album, “Last Trane to New Orleans,” which was recorded in the McDonogh 35 Senior High School auditorium in New Orleans. The project was produced by his daughter, Rachel, and engineered by his grandson Paul Sims.

On his 87th birthday on May 5, 2022, the New Orleans City Council officially made his birthday a city-wide holiday, called Edward ‘Kidd’ Jordan Day.

Jordan leaves behind his wife Edvidge Chatters Jordan and 7 children: Edward, Jr., Kent, Christie, Paul, Stephanie, Rachel, and Marlon. His publicist says his legacy will live on through the establishment of arts mentorship program “Kidd Jordan Institute of Jazz and Modern Music.”

His funeral is expected to be held at D.W. Rhodes Funeral Home, but no further details have been released at this time.

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