Kidd Jordan & Hamid Drake - A Night in November

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:12
Size: 171,5 MB
Art: Front

(11:01)  1. Set One Alto and Drums
( 2:47)  2. Set One Drums
(23:27)  3. Set One Tenor and Drums
( 3:53)  4. Set One Tenor Wade In The Water
(29:02)  5. Set Two Tenor and Drums

New Orleans is valued for its storied traditional jazz legacy, and not so much for avant-garde persuasions. But when it comes to off-center or free-jazz music, saxophonist Kidd Jordan's artistic persona frequently becomes a topic of conversation. He's performed and recorded with iconoclastic musicians and is perhaps the Crescent City's most prolific improviser. This excursion features his duets with the exceptional Chicago jazz drummer Hamid Drake, segmented into two sets and emanating from their encounter in front of a small audience at Piety Street Recording in New Orleans on November 20, 2011.  Except for "Wade in the Water" all pieces are the result of spontaneous compositions. And even though the duo engages in some hyper-mode cat and mouse episodes and occasionally blast off into parts unknown, there is a synergistic force that accentuates these six extemporized compositions. Jordan's razor-sharp choruses are often countered by Drake's spinning polyrhythmic patterns amid some nip and tuck articulations and precision-oriented thematic build-outs. They delve into Afro-Cuban formats and operate within variable cadences. And while many avant duo sessions are nestled in bombastic howling and screeching burnouts, this duo contrasts many of the fire-breathing sequences with fragmented shifts in momentum, dictated by second- guessing of each other's moves. It's like a rapidly moving chess match, sans a winner or loser. Therefore, the musicians' improvised mechanics and free-will underscore the pacing of the two sets.

There are a few temperate interludes, yet on the extended piece "Tenor and Drums," Jordan's ringing vibrato technique is interspersed with bluesy plaintive cries atop Drake's sturdy backbeats. As they counter and mimic each other with alternating flows, featuring the drummer's slick hi-hat and snare work. Here, the artists explore a conglomerate of variants, while slanting off the core rock pulse. Part of the magic is how they infuse conventional wisdom with a surfeit of unanticipated paradigm shifts and expansionary tactics that combine discipline with an inexhaustible array of ideas and modes of execution. ~ Glenn Astarita https://www.allaboutjazz.com/a-night-in-november-live-in-new-orleans-kidd-jordan-valid-records-review-by-glenn-astarita.php
 

Personnel: Kidd Jordan: alto and tenor saxophones; Hamid Drake: drums.

A Night in November

---

Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake, William Parker - Palm of Soul

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:49
Size: 125,7 MB
Art: Front

( 0:58)  1. Peppermint Falls
( 8:24)  2. Forever
(14:58)  3. Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake, William Parker
(10:21)  4. Unity Call
( 2:22)  5. So Often
( 5:42)  6. Resolution
(12:01)  7. Last of the Chicken Wings

Hurricane Katrina left tenor saxophonist Kidd Jordan homeless less than a month before this recording session. Undeterred, the New Orleans native kept a prearranged studio date with bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake. Regularly joined by tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson for powerhouse quartet gigs, Jordan, Parker and Drake had never recorded before as a trio. Improvising collectively with no preset material, they settled into a meditative mood underscored by restless energy. It would seem plausible that such turbulent melancholy is at least partially attributable to an emotional reaction in the aftermath of such disaster. While there is no denying the possibility of such an influence, Palm of Soul is steeped in musical traditions that existed long before. Eschewing the vigorous free-bop at which they excel (tantalizingly hinted at on the brisk one-minute opener, "Peppermint Falls"), they elect to explore a panorama of multi-ethnic, rubato rhythms tempered by an undercurrent of simmering introspection. Though it's not without its frenetic moments, this session is primarily focused on mutual conversation, nuanced interplay, exotic texture and rich, resplendent tonality.

Such a tone belongs to Kidd Jordan. At seventy, his resume boasts innumerable collaborations, from Ray Charles to Cecil Taylor. He conveys years of experience in even the most unadorned of phrases. Supported by a superlative rhythm section, Jordan is able to explore every facet of his horn. Accompanied by shimmering percussion and resounding gongs on "Forever" and "Last of the Chicken Wings," he extracts lissome, forlorn melodies from his breathy, multiphonic tenor. Alternately, he elicits hoarse, cacophonous testimonials on "Living Peace" while Parker bows dissonant harmonics and Drake sporadically accents the ascending drama. Parker and Drake's harmonically rife rhythmic accompaniment is anything but conventional. Parker plays African hunter's guitar (guimbri), gongs and resonating bowls more often than the bass. Drake alternates between traditional trap set, frame drum and tablas. These exotic instruments lend a very strong Asian, African and Indian feel to the majority of the set, invoking none other than Don Cherry, Drake and Parker's former employer. "Unity Call" is especially emblematic of Cherry's pan-global aesthetic. Drake's wordless chanting and loping frame drum rhythm combine with Parker's pulsing guimbri ostinato, driving Jordan into a wailing, raspy frenzy reminiscent of Cherry's work with Frank Lowe in the 1970s. Flirting with tradition, "Living Peace" borrows conventional devices, employing walking bass and a casual ride rhythm that modulates, Mingus-like, from bluesy gait to bop sprint. Building to grandeur worthy of late-period Coltrane, the piece culminates in a burning arco/altissimo finale that is as strident as "Forever" is melancholy and ethereal. With steely determination and emotional resolve in the face of great tragedy, Jordan, Parker and Drake have created a timeless album of understated, dark beauty. Palm of Soul is spiritually revelatory free jazz, hauntingly beautiful and emotionally resonant. ~ Troy Collins https://www.allaboutjazz.com/palm-of-soul-kidd-jordan-aum-fidelity-review-by-troy-collins.php

Personnel: Kidd Jordan: tenor saxophone; William Parker: bass, guimbri, gongs, bowls, talking drum; Hamid Drake: drums, tablas, frame drum, voice.

Palm of Soul

---

Kidd Jordan - On Fire

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:10
Size: 115,9 MB
Art: Front

(13:55)  1. Officer, that Big Knife Cuts My Sax Reeds
(17:03)  2. The Evil Eye
(13:52)  3. We Are All Indebted to Each Other
( 5:18)  4. Harrison Carries the Coffin Out

Incendiary similes have always proven popular as descriptors of free jazz. Indeed, "Fire Music," has been used as a label for the whole genre. New Orleans-based saxophonist Kidd Jordan's 2006 outing, the superb Palm of Soul (AUM Fidelity), essayed a meditative calm, music which couldn't be more different from the accurately named 50-minute studio session On Fire. While bassist Harrison Bankhead and drummer Rocker Warren Smith would be eminently suited to a contemplative, even melodically inclined date, here they too pursue more rough-hewn ends. As customary for Jordan, each cut is spontaneously created, relying on the participants' quick wits and instincts honed over 55 plus years of activity in not only avant jazz, but also, as in the case of Jordan, stints backing R&B royalty like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder. Jordan's signature falsetto wail an uncompromising but deeply felt sound permeates each track although the resultant blowing is more than one- dimensional. He spikes his unbridled expression with insistent riffs or reflective codas, around which his colleagues rally and create emphatic conclusions. On "We Are All Indebted To Each Other," the combination of both approaches, with a beautiful luminous tone, makes for a strikingly affecting conclusion. Smith's artistry is orchestral in scope, demonstrating mastery of timbre and rhythm. He effects an inspiring change of pace when he switches to shimmering vibes. Bankhead deploys a deep buzzing thrum, like a hive of bees, best heard in an extended flickering feature towards the end of "The Evil Eye," when he evokes flamenco stylings. He gets a name check all his own on the soulful "Harrison Carries Out the Coffin" where he accompanies another fleet-fingered solo with a melodic hum, leading to a richly bluesy Second Line finale. Jordan and his band burn brightly, their blend of joyous abandon and searing intensity prove hard to beat. ~ John Sharpe https://www.allaboutjazz.com/on-fire-kidd-jordan-engine-review-by-john-sharpe.php

Personnel: Kidd Jordan: tenor saxophone; Harrison Bankhead: bass; Warren Smith: drums, vibraphone.

On Fire

---