Kali Z. Fasteau/ Kidd Jordan - People of the Ninth

Flying Note 11

Kidd Jordan’s last record Palm of Soul was careful to downplay musical corollaries to his post-Katrina mindset as a New Orleans native. Even so, a contemplative and at times haunted mien characterized much of that program and the nuanced results marked a riveting departure from his past-recorded work. People of the Ninth makes those sentiments even more manifest. In a snap judgment, Fasteau and Jordan do not appear to be the most musically sympathetic match. Jordan has the revered reputation for full bore ecstatic blowing on tenor. Fasteau’s arsenal includes a bevy of sound devices implies chops sometimes diluted by multi-channeled focus. Both assumptions are proven wrong on this date and Fasteau in particular shows prowess on par with her peers.

Fasteau avoids one of the chief foibles of some of her past Flying Note projects, that of tampering with the tracks through intrusive edits. The pieces here are presented intact. Still in place is her “musical chairs” approach to individual improvisations. The dozen duet and trio combinations feature Fasteau on piano, soprano sax, cello, flute and a device called an Aquasonic that vaguely echoes the resonating properties of a Theremin. Jordan’s tenor is the common denominator on nearly all of the tracks and drummer Michael T.A. Thompson serves as the other adroit fulcrum, measuring his presence to the needs of the principals. That consistency pays off in performances that have clearly agreed upon parameters and closely attuned paths to completion.

Jordan repeatedly calibrates his horn to access the ecstatic starting with the cannily titled “Levees, Lies & Lives”, but there are an equal number of passages where he wisely reins things in. Fasteau’s piano playing blends straight keyboard forays with nimble under-the-hood embellishments and the two build elaborate constructions on tracks like the darkly rhapsodic “Rescue Denied” and the stirring “Solace.” The tonal match between the tenor and cello on “Rising Winds” is similarly inspired, pivoting on Fasteau’s bowed harmonics and Jordan’s patented altissimo cries. The pairing of soprano and tenor on pieces like “Right of Return” and “Mr. October” works almost as well with Thompson laying down a busy, but non-intrusive rhythmic streams. Jordan sits out on “What Once Was” a tone poem interlude that blends Fasteau’s aerated Nai flute with Thompson’s telegraphing balafon, but he’s back for the remainder of the set. Pathos and meaning run deep in the music with pieces like “Professor Jordan’s Favorite Horse” painting aural pictures of indelible loss. Hurricane Katrina was a cataclysmic tragedy by any measure and this disc brings that point resoundingly home.

~ Derek Taylor