Original Afro-Cuban jazz with Arabic influences.

8 MP3 Songs
WORLD: African, JAZZ: World Fusion



Details:
This all-original CD contains an extensive and interactive CD-Rom that contains band bios, and and interactive rhythm primer with artists from Canada, Cameroon, Cuba and Senegal.

vancouverJazz.com

In Sync by Chris Wong

November 26, 2000

Kathy Kidd
1949 - 2000

Hereâs a story about Kathy Kidd, the extraordinary pianist, visionary composer and inspirational bandleader who died last weekend at the age of 51.

One of the many remarkable aspects of Kiddâs Hajji album was her playing on a massive pipe organ, which she recorded at St. Andrewâs-Wesley Church on Burrard. Kidd wanted "Organ Gloria", the albumâs final and most impressive song, to end with a grand crescendo. To make that happen, Kidd sustained the last chord while her husband Ron Dabby feverishly pulled out all of the organâs stops to create more volume. "Thatâs what our life was all about," says Dabby. "I was running around pulling out all the stops and she was jamming."

Itâs a great image that says a lot about the coupleâs rare partnership. The thought of Kidd revelling in the splendor of the musical moment also partially helps soothe the shock of her passing. But no one in Vancouverâs jazz and world music community, which deeply admired Kidd, was prepared for this.

Few people knew she was sick. About seven weeks ago Kidd started experiencing chest pains. After three weeks in hospital Kidd was diagnosed as having melanoma, the same type of cancer she defeated 20 years earlier. This time the cancer had spread so the prognosis was bleak. Kidd stayed at home for a while but her breathing became increasingly laboured. She went back to the hospital, where Dabby, his daughter Bryna and four friends who happen to be nursesâwomen Dabby calls "angels of mercy"âstayed with her. Kidd passed away in the early morning of Nov. 18.

Just two days later, St. Andrewâs-Wesley was packed with people for the service celebrating Kiddâs life. If all of the many musicians who came had brought their instruments, an amazing jam session could have ensued, which Kidd would have relished. As it turned out, there were heartfelt musical tributes. For two pieces, Sal Ferreras, Mandido, Fana Soro and Pepe Danza played African drums, which were so important to Kiddâs music, alongside saxophonist Graham Ord. Ferreras, Bryna Dabby, and the two reverendsâGordon Turner and Max Warneâalso spoke eloquently about Kiddâs incredible spirit.

Born in Peterborough, Kidd was a classically trained pianist who earned a Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto. At 20, she travelled to countries such as Afghanistan, Algeria, India and Iran. Kidd also went to the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York, where she learned from the likes of Jack DeJohnette, Nana Vasconcelos and Collin Walcott.

After moving to Vancouver, Kidd established herself as one the cityâs premier musicians playing Latin music. She worked with groups like Salsa Ferreras and Dido and the Hand People, along with her own ensembles, including a strong septet. Kidd also taught at Vancouver Community College.

In 1991 Kidd went to New York, where she studied with leading Latin pianists and learned about Yoruban cultureâthe basis for the Afro-Cuban music she was passionate about. Following that trip, major players in New Yorkâs Latin scene such as Andy Gonzalez and the now-prominent David Sanchez played on her Do What You Love album, which got a four-star review in Down Beat magazine. Kidd was also inspired to compose the Yemaya Suite, an Afro-Cuban jazz suite, which she worked on during a two-year stay in Paris.

Kidd had the talent and chutzpah to put together a band with top African and Latin musicians in the French capital. Thatâs also where she fully developed her concept of connecting African, Latin and Arabic music.

Back in Vancouver, Kidd and her band Kongo Mambo premiered the Yemaya Suite at St. Andrewâs Wesley. She would play many times in the church, including gigs that were part of Reverend Turnerâs Jazz Vespers series. Kidd also spent countless hours in the sacred space learning the complexities of the organ from Darryl Nixon and practicing on her own. (Near the end of the memorial service, Nixon played a thunderous piece, which Kidd had been working on. Nixonâs performance was thoroughly cathartic.)

All of these musical threads came together with Hajji, which seamlessly combined Afro-Cuban, West African, Arabic and Western classical rhythms and melodies. Hajji showed that Kidd fully deserved to be on the world stage. She wasnât frustrated by how true recognition was slow to come. As Kidd put it, "Success for me is just doing it."

Kidd had so much more music to express. She was composing a huge symphonic, choral and organ work, based on her research of Central African music. Kidd was even learning how to use a sampler so she could sample drums to accompany herself for solo organ concerts.

Weâll never get to hear these works-in-progress. Iâm sure she would have pulled them off, like all of her bold visions. But we can hang on to memories, like the one of Kongo Mamboâs performance last June in the du Maurier International Jazz Festival Vancouver, which she played virtually every year. On the Gastown stage with some of the best players in town, such as Ferreras, Ord, Jack Duncan and François Houle, Kidd radiated nothing less than pure joy.




in sync appears biweekly in the Vancouver Courier.


Hajii
Kathy Kidd | Lowrider Records
By Glenn Astarita / Allaboutjazz.com


Canadian composer, pipe organist scholar, classically trained pianist and social worker Kathy Kidd is a well traveled/educated artist who has embarked on lengthy field-study trips to Europe, India, Turkey and other intriguing spots on the globe. On Hajii which is Arabic for one who undertakes the pilgrimage to Mecca, Ms Kidd exhibits her worldly education and interest for disparate musical forms as she, along with a fine ensemble intelligently meld East and West along with Afro-Cuban rhythms in concert with traditional jazz arrangements.

Hajii is a delightful recording that features Ms Kidd's skillful and somewhat subtle integration of the Casavant Pipe Organ into many of these pieces which border various genres as the sum of the parts equates to a cross-platform or genre hopping approach. Compositions such as Lagos Fugue are gleeful, rhythmically charged and offer pleasing horn charts as Ms. Kidd provides color and tonal contrast while utilizing the pipe organ. Fly My Beloved boasts a memorably melodic horn arrangement which at times, rekindles thoughts of late 60s West Coast jazz stylizations as the bright, cheery themes and heterogeneous Afro-Cuban rhythms provide the forward motion, enhanced by Graham Ord's light-as-a-feather flute performance. Rahawi' is a rather hypnotic and spirited piece featuring soft percussion, yet seamlessly transgresses into a series of semi-complex arrangements aided by poignant themes accelerated by Francois Houle's wonderfully constructed clarinet solo. *Francois Houle is a major jazz solo artist who has produced several fine solo recordings over the years.

Cheick De Mali is yet another fine composition, which is somewhat emblematic of Ms Kidd's textural approach including catchy harmonies and listener friendly melodies. Here, Graham Ord embarks on a soulful, gutsy and passionate tenor sax solo that adds spice and a strong sense of dynamics to the overall tone of this piece as Ms Kidd reworks the melody with a sweet-tempered and probing piano solo. The final track titled Organ Gloria proceeds as a Bach-like organ fugue along with all of the classical connotations complete with African rhythms. Now there's a twist! However, it all works as the band investigate a hodgepodge of motifs and melodies that naturally fit into the framework of the ongoing development while the ensemble furnishes the listener with an 11 minute tour of the world.

Hajii is a delightfully appealing effort and an unexpected surprise for what has been an interesting and fruitful year for jazz. With this release, Ms. Kidd succeeds at blending cross-cultural themes, ideas and concepts into a broad context, which is evident, yet at times transparent to the listener. That alone warrants consideration as Hajii deserves widespread recognition! Highly Recommended....* * * *

Personnel:

Kathy Kidd; Piano, Casavant Pipe Organ: Miguel Anga Diaz; Congas, Bata, Bongo, Bell: Brice Wassy; Avotte Drum Kit, Shekere, Shaker: Moussa Sissokho; Talking Drums, Djembe, Sabar, Shaker: Guy NSangue; Electric Bass: Ron Allen; Sopranino Sax, Soprano Sax, Ney Flutes, Udu: Francois Houle; Clarinet: Graham Ord; Tenor Sax, Flute: Maryam Toumrai: Vocals on Rahawi.