Left to right; Kent Jordan, Rachel Jordan, Kidd Jordan, Stephanie Jordan, and Marlon Jordan: Photo credit Jim Thorns

by Vincent Sylvain, The New Orleans Agenda

NEW ORLEANS, LA (April 24, 2023) - The recent passing of Edward Kidd Jordan on April 7, 2023 brings a new twist to the already planned announced tribute by his children. The Jordan Family, featuring vocalist Stephanie Jordan, Kent Jordan on flute, trumpeter Marlon Jordan, and Rachel Jordan on violin, will display their interpretation of their father's music in the WWOZ Jazz Tent Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Sunday, April 30, at 2:45 pm.

While Jordan dedicated most of his career to avant-garde, many of the April 30th performances will include tunes written and performed by Kidd. Selected songs will consist of those of special meaning in Kidd's life. For instance, the River Niger was written by Jordan during one of his trips to Africa. Kidd often talked about how he was "amazed and inspired by the skills of the young African boys maneuvering the rough waters of the Niger River while only in little, tiny boats." That experience led Kidd to transcribe what he saw into the recording with the Improvisational Arts Quintet.

Last Trip to Jackson, which appears on the "No Compromise!" album, is a composition by Kidd which pays homage to his long-time friend and drummer, the late Alvin Fielder, who resided in Jackson, Mississippi.

And a show must, Kidd Jordan's Second Line was composed by Jordan for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band for their first European appearance in 1982 and has since become a New Orleans staple for Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs and brass bands around the world. Those are just three of the songs one can expect to hear this Sunday from the siblings.

The legendary saxophonist was acclaimed internationally as one of the true master improvisers as early as the 1940s, intent on exploring jazz-rooted music's outer reaches. This virtuoso unselfishly shared his gift of and passion for music for over 50 years, 34 (1972 – 2006), of which he spent at Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) until he retired in 2006 as head of the jazz studies program.  

Jordan earned a degree in music from Southern University Baton Rouge in 1955, a master's from Millikin University, and later pursued post-graduate summer studies with Fred Hempke at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. 

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. In May 2017, Jordan received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Loyola University New Orleans.

Jordan was honored with Offbeat magazine's 1^st Lifetime Achievement Award for Music Education, and CBS' 60 Minutes documented his musical contribution. In 2008, Southern University at New Orleans Foundation honored Jordan during their annual BASH III. 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." 

On Kidd's 87^th birthday on May 5, 2022, the New Orleans City Council proclaimed May 5 Edward "Kidd" Jordan Day in the City of New Orleans.

He has performed and recorded with various 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, and The Temptations, among others.

The Jordan Family Tribute to Kidd Jordan will include the following:

KENT JORDAN

Flutist Kent Jordan is a virtuoso flutist who is undeniably fluent in jazz and classical music. His mastery of the flute and his fluency in classical and jazz performance was clear from age 16 when he was selected to perform Flight of the Bumblebee with the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kent is dedicated to Jazz education and teaches at The Willow School (formerly Lusher High School) in New Orleans and serves as an instructor at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage School of Music. He also teaches the big band and flute curriculums at the Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp. Jordan graduated from the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts High School (NOCCA) in New Orleans and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.

STEPHANIE JORDAN

Vocalist Stephanie Jordan, whom critics have placed in the company of Diana Krall and Dianne Reeves, began to receive noted prominence following the nationally televised Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina. "On that memorable night, none sang with greater authority or emotional resonance than Stephanie Jordan who enthralled the packed house and a national PBS NPR audience of millions with an ascendant reading of "Here's to Life."  

Bill Milkowski of JazzTimes Magazine writes, "Stephanie Jordan, a standout here, was the real discovery of the evening. Her haunting rendition of this bittersweet ode associated with Shirley Horn was delivered with uncanny poise and a depth of understated soul that mesmerized the crowd. Singing with a clarity of diction that recalled Nat "King" Cole..." Jordan revealed a fully evolved tonal personality, one that can be mentioned in a conversation about such distinguished mentors and influences as Horn, Abbey Lincoln, and Nancy Wilson."

A graduate of Howard University, Stephanie is also a certified fitness instructor and creator of Jazz Pilates. Jordan is Choir Director and Vocal Instructor at a local elementary school.

MARLON JORDAN

Trumpeter Marlon Jordan was one of the "Young Jazz Lions" who signed with SONY Records. He recorded three impressive LPs for Columbia from 1998 to 1992, For You Only, named "one of the best debut albums of the year" by the Washington Post, Learson's Return, and The Undaunted, and one for the Arabesque label entitled Marlon's Mode in 1997. "The comparisons of Jordan's style to artists such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane put him in the upper echelon of jazz history.”

Marlon has performed at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Avery Fischer Hall, Blue Note, and The Village Vanguard in New York City. He has toured Japan and China on the JVC Jazz Festivals, featuring Miles Davis, David Sanborn, The Yellow Jackets and SunRa.

Marlon is a New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts High School (NOCCA) graduate in New Orleans.



RACHEL JORDAN

Rounding out the Jordan clan is classical violinist Rachel Jordan. Rachel serves as the String Instructor for the Talented Music Program at Jefferson Parish Public School and is a member of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas, and the James Carter Quartet at Loyola University in New Orleans. Rachel has served as adjunct faculty at Xavier University, Southern University, Dillard University, and Loyola University and is a former Professor of Violin at Jackson State University. She is also a former member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans.

Rachel received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where she studied with Berl Senofsky. Rachel is a New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts High School (NOCCA) graduate.

Rachel has performed at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert and numerous concerts throughout the United States. Ms. Jordan performs on and is the executive producer of the Marlon Jordan Featuring Stephanie Jordan CD titled "You Don't Know What Love Is." In addition, Ms. Jordan co-manages J Group Consulting, a family music management entity.

Rachel has been a featured performer in numerous solo recitals. Most notably, the Kennedy Center, the Mozart Festival in Salzburg, Austria, the Music Center of Houston, and the Mozart Festival in Washington, D.C. She performed, "The Lark Ascending" with Jackson State University Orchestra for the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Inaugural Ceremony of President Barack Obama.   

While at Dillard University, Rachel started the Jesse Dent Recital series, which features African American Musicians performing classical music. She also produces the annual "An Afternoon of Classical Music" chamber music series.  She is also the founding director and artistic director of the "Music Alive Ensemble," a classical and jazz ensemble of musicians, composers, and arrangers.

Accompanying the Jordan Family on April 30 will be Darrell Levigne on piano, Brian Quezerque and David Pulphus on bass; Peter Varnardo on drums; Amy Thiaville and Rachel Hsieh on strings, Jonathan Bloom on percussions; Clarance Johnson, Roderick Paulin, Eddie Bayard, and Tony Degrada on saxophones.

Mr. Jordan's teaching continues to build an everlasting legacy. Former well-known students include Wynton and Bradford Marsalis, Jon Batiste, Donald Harrison, Charles Joseph, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Leroy Adams, Calvin Johnson, Sammie "Big Sam" William, Gregory Davis, Courtney Bryan, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, and countless others. 

Other former students include; Brian Quezergue, Kenneth Anderson, Andrew Baham, Paul Batiste, Peter Batiste, Russell Batiste Jr., Alonza Bowens, Neal Dominque, Joe Dyson, Kurt Ford, Natasha Harris, Arthur Mitchell, Aja Mohammed, Conan Pappas, Usie Phillips, Wesley Phillips, Khristopher Royal, Chris Severin, Vernon Severin, Troy Sawyer, Walter Smith, III, Tony Villon, Richard Moten, Louis Bibbs, Abe Compson, Wali Abbel Ra'oof, Safi Ra'oof, Gregory Agid, Sarina Taylor, Bazile Williams, Ervin Williams, Glenny Massie, Rodney Massie, George Verret, LeRoy Haynes, Edward Francis, Robert Roy, Ed Berrin, Vandell Andrew, and many others.