Jazz Articles

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

by Dave Wayne
June 1, 2014

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. He's accompanied by a true kindred spirit, 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 ...

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

by Glenn Astarita
October 18, 2013

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 ...

Rob Wagner / Hamid Drake / Nobu Ozaki: Trio

by Troy Collins
July 20, 2007

With time to reflect on the Katrina tragedy, jazz artists with ties to New Orleans have been emerging to tell their stories. Kidd Jordan, William Parker, Hamid Drake, Kali Z. Fasteau, James “Blood" Ulmer and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band are among those who have committed their concerns to tape. Accompanied by drummer Hamid Drake and bassist Nobu Ozaki, saxophonist (and New Orleans native) Rob Wagner delivers his own take on the event.

As a creative modernist with ...

Rob Wagner / Hamid Drake / Nobu Ozaki: Trio

by Glenn Astarita
July 14, 2007

Since the post-Hurricane Katrina exodus from New Orleans, the city's fabled music scene parallels the uncertainties of habitation and commerce issues. Here, modern jazz saxophonist Rob Wagner aligns with a killer rhythm section for a set recorded in December of 2005 at the French Quarter's thoroughly hip Café' Brasil. And while many musicians have scurried about trying to make an earnest living outside the Crescent City, drummer Hamid Drake and bassist Nobu Ozaki trekked to New Orleans six months after ...

Rob Wagner Trio: Lost Children

by Glenn Astarita
February 17, 2006

Modern/free jazz saxophonist Kidd Jordan is arguably New Orleans' most forward-thinking artist, manifested in his freeform endeavors with drummer Andrew Cyrille and work with pianist Joel Futterman, among others. Multi-reedman Rob Wagner can be added to the same list of New Orleans' more adventurous jazz practitioners. And while Hurricane Katrina has forced many folks into evacuation mode because of a lack of work and other problems, Wagner has imprinted his stamp of jazz modernism within the region.

Presently in New ...

Rob Wagner: Walking, Crying, Laughing, Running

by Frank Rubolino
October 11, 2003

Robert Wagner's reeds exude a soulful sound. The New Orleans-based woodwind musician goes on extended improvisational romps on this trio recording while his band of bassist James Singleton and drummer James Alsanders lays down a solid foundation for his lift-off. Wagner's expansive solos filter from his tenor, alto, or soprano with gliding consistency. He does not display jagged edges or raspy abrasiveness in his delivery but instead allows the streams of notes to pour out in smoothly flowing waves of ...