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Kidd Jordan & Hamid Drake: A Night In November - Live in New Orleans

By Dave Wayne
June 1, 2014
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Kidd Jordan & Hamid Drake: A Night In November - Live in New Orleans

Hard to believe, but A Night In November—Live in New Orleans is the first drums / saxophone duet recording by legendary New Orleans free jazz saxophonist and educator

Kidd Jordan

saxophone
1935 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Kidd Jordan. He's accompanied by a true kindred spirit,

" data-original-title="" title="">Hamid Drake. Though both have made names for themselves in the rarefied world of free improvisation, neither are shy about their roots in more traditional forms of jazz, blues, soul, and R&B. Jordan, now almost 80 years old, is a remarkable figure whose music has only been properly documented since the late 1990s. In an interview with Ted Panken, published in Cadence Magazine back in 2003, Jordan states... "the aesthetic from the Blues is a part of the thing that I want to have in my playing. I don't care how out it gets." As an educator, Jordan touched the lives of many important and highly visible contemporary jazz artists, including

Branford Marsalis

saxophone
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Branford Marsalis,

Donald Harrison

saxophone, alto
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Donald Harrison, and co-founder of the

Dirty Dozen Brass Band

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.1977

" data-original-title="" title="">Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Charles Joseph.

Also a Louisiana native, Drake is a couple of generations younger than Jordan and came up playing blues, funk, reggae, and African music in Chicago. Best known in the latter half of the 20th Century for longstanding and artistically fruitful collaborations with

Fred Anderson

saxophone
1929 - 2010

" data-original-title="" title="">Fred Anderson, Foday Musa Suso,

Don Cherry

trumpet
1936 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Cherry,

William Parker

bass
b.1952

" data-original-title="" title="">William Parker, and

Peter Brötzmann

woodwinds
1941 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Br?tzmann, Drake entered the 21st Century as one of the preeminent percussionists in both the jazz and improvised music worlds. Previously members of Fred Anderson's quartet, Drake and Jordan have been collaborating recently in trio format with bassist

Joshua Abrams

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Joshua Abrams, and in trombonist

Jeff Albert

trombone
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Jeff Albert's quartet. It seems only natural that the two perform and record as a duo.

Though not conceived as a tribute recording, the towering figure of Fred Anderson-Drake's mentor and Jordan's running buddy- casts benevolent shadow over these proceedings. Known for his marathon improvisations and endless melodic / harmonic inventiveness, Anderson's duo and trio work (usually with Drake behind the kit) sets the tone for the proceedings on A Night In November—Live in New Orleans. The duo's free associative music runs the gamut from gutbucket funk to tender balladry to abstract sound investigations reminiscent of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The set starts out with Jordan on alto saxophone, and instrument he originally studied with the intent of becoming a classical saxophonist. Here, Jordan is at his most edgy and abstract, firing off salvos of multiphonics, high- register squeals, and jagged 32nd note runs that reveal his grounding in the music of

Charlie Parker

saxophone, alto
1920 - 1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Parker,

Eric Dolphy

woodwinds
1928 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Dolphy, and

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman. There's even a little quote from Ornette's "Blues Connotation" at about the halfway point of "Set One: Tenor and Drums." Drake's unhurried, sure-handed accompaniment is conversational but never overwhelming. Though he plays drum kit throughout, Drake's extensive experience with various hand drums is quite evident.

There are two brief solo interludes, one for each player, that form a bridge between the three duets that comprise the album. With Jordan on tenor, Drake plays a bit more aggressively. He dives right into his characteristic multi-rhythmic bag, alternating swing- feel improv with passages of backbeat funk and melodic / coloristic lines on the cymbals, toms and snare that shadow Jordan's long, twisting saxophone phrases. Recorded live in the studio before an invited audience, A Night In November—Live in New Orleans exudes a warmth that makes one wonder how free improvisation became such an esoteric pursuit in the first place.

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Track Listing

Set One: Alto and drums; Drums; Tenor and Drums; Tenor �C Wade in the Water; Set Two: Tenor and Drums.

Personnel

Kidd Jordan

saxophone

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

Album information

Title: A Night In November - Live in New Orleans | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Valid Records

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