During his 50-year career, Jordan showcased his talents across New Orleans and collaborated with music legends like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder.
Jordan performed throughout New Orleans during his 50-year career, while also collaborating with music legends such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and others.
Jordan, who was born in Crowley in 1935, moved to New Orleans at the age of 20 and founded The Improvisation Arts Quintet in 1975. The band created a diverse catalog of avant-garde music that has been described as “an evolution of complementary imagery moving together and apart, each artist becoming an ear, an eye, and most importantly a heart for the sake of the creative spiritual soul.”
He was a music professor at Southern University in New Orleans, where he later became chairman of the jazz studies program.
“He shared his vision of improvisation and encouraged students to find their authentic creative voices,” Sylvain said of his 34 years at SUNO. “Mr. Jordan’s legacy is cemented by his insistence on one critical element in his students’ music: originality.” And he puts his words into action.”
Jordan also taught for 25 years at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation’s School of Music and was the artistic director of the Louis Armstrong Satchmo Jazz Camp. He left the company in 2006.
“Kidd devoted his life to teaching children of all ages.” “His death marks the end of an era in New Orleans music education,” said Jackie Harris, executive director of the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Educational Foundation.
“His spirit and determination were a shining example that gave musicians the confidence to express themselves with ‘No Compromise,'” Harris said, referring to Jordan’s debut album.
Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Jon Batiste, Donald Harrison Jr., Tony Dagradi, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, and “Big” Sam Williams are all former students.
Jordan also tutored his seven children, Edward Jr., Kent, Christie, Paul, Stephanie, Rachel, and Marlon, who were born in the same year. Kent on flute, Stephanie as a singer, Rachel as a classical violinist, and Marlon on trumpet all went on to become professional musicians.
In 1985, the French Ministry of Culture made him a chevalier, or knight, of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, a prestigious award given to those who have produced exceptional work in the arts or literature. Jordan was also named a “jazz hero” by the Jazz Journalist Association in 2013 and received a Lifetime Achievement Honoree award at the Vision Festival XIII in New York in 2008.
Jordan is survived by his wife, Edvidge Chatters Jordan, in addition to his children.
Funeral arrangements are being made.
