Here’s a final take on Kidd Jordan’s performance at New York’s Vision Festival, this one by Larry Blumenfeld:

Kidd never let up, reveling in the company of favorite collaborators: veering toward spirituals with baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett, exploring upper-register pitches with violinist Billy Bang, losing himself in rumbling communion with pianist Alvin Fielder, conversing in code with fellow tenorist Fred Anderson, and ducking in and out of ever-shifting grooves dug by bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake.

               

In one of my posts about Kidd Jordan, I wrote that none of the city’s cultural organizations besides Anxious Sound had paid proper attention to Jordan. Cree McCree reminded me recently of a note she contributed to our Jazz Fest wrap-up that called for an Anxious Sound showcase at Jazz Fest, much like the Ponderosa Stomp showcase this year. I second that emotion. Jazz Fest has booked Jordan many times, but it rarely puts him in a sympathetic setting, instead sandwiching him between acts that emphasize his out-ness. It would be nice to have Rob Cambre curate at least part of a day and present cutting edge jazz and improvised music in contexts that help listeners understand it and Jordan. 

               

NPR profiled Kidd Jordan last Wednesday on All Things Considered. Here’s the story.

               

Every cultural arts organization except Anxious Sound should be embarrassed that Kidd Jordan had to go to New York City for to be recognized for a lifetime achievement. Here’s an excerpt from Nate Chinen’s review in the New York Times:

Every ensemble featuring Mr. Jordan … knocked about in the realm of free improvisation. He’s a master of that tradition, one of a handful of saxophonists of his generation to absorb the breakthroughs of his contemporaries Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, not just as a shock but also as a spur. His technique has the capacity to astonish, especially in the altissimo range. But he works to ensure that the technical takes a backseat to the soulful.