Wanda's Picks Feature: Edward "Kidd" Jordan/Kamau Amu Patton's Icons of Attention

"Edward 'Kidd' Jordan is probably the single most under-documented jazz musician of his generation, a fact that is even more remarkable when you consider that he is also one of the busiest musicians in the world. The list of bands and artists Jordan has performed with reads like a 40-year Grammy program, from Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder to Aretha Franklin and the Supremes. And the list of jazz musicians he has performed with is even longer, from Ed Blackwell and Ellis Marsalis to Ornette Coleman, Cannonball Adderley and Cecil Taylor. This fact has not been lost on his appreciative European audiences, as Jordan was recognized by the French government with a knighthood for his contribution to the European performing arts. In addition to his live performances, Kidd Jordan has long been associated with music education due to his position at Southern University at New Orleans, 1974-2006. The honesty in Kidd Jordan’s playing is only matched by a tone that has rarely been heard in the history of his instrument. When audiences talk about Kidd Jordan, sometimes it is necessary to stop and think for a moment...are they referring to Kidd the prophet, the artist, or the teacher? Fortunately for all those that are privileged to know and hear him, they are all the same, all one." http://www.indiejazz.com/ArtistDetail.aspx?ArtistID=122 We close with a conversation with curator: Julio Cesar Morales, adjunct curator of YBCA and subject and co-curator/collaborator with Morales of his "Kamau Amu Patton: Icons of Attention," up at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts through Sunday, March 7, 2010. Visit www.ybca.org Bay Area-based video and performance artist Kamau Amu Patton's "Icons of Attention" is a dialogue that addresses the development and intersection of the roots and tradition of the culture of electronic music.