 Randy Weston © Ariane Smolderen Born
in Brooklyn and growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood,
Weston was encouraged by his parents to learn about and take pride in
his African roots. His father grew up in Panama but his family was
from Jamaica, where education was highly valued, and young Randy was
surrounded by a love of African history and culture. He notes that
his parents “gave me dignity and let me know that we are a
beautiful people, and we have a great heritage.” In addition to
instilling pride in African culture, Weston’s parents also insisted
that he take music lessons, although early on he felt he had no
talent and, given his size (he was six feet tall by age 12), he was
more interested in sports. His cousin, the great pianist Wynton
Kelly, however, was a source of inspiration. “Wynton had perfect
pitch. He could hear anything and play it. He was a genius. What a
great, great musician and a beautiful human being.”
Count
Basie, Nat King Cole, and Duke Ellington were among Weston’s early
influences, as were the musicians who often frequented his father’s
West Indian restaurant—Duke Jordan, Errol Garner, Art Tatum, and
Willie “The Lion” Smith. He was particularly inspired by Coleman
Hawkins, with whom he heard the great pianists Hank Jones, Sir
Charles Thompson, and, most critically, Thelonious Monk. "He was
the most original I ever heard," Weston recalled. "He
played like they must have played
in Egypt 5000 years ago… I spent about
three years just hanging out with Monk. I would pick him up in the
car and bring him to Brooklyn and he was a great master because, for
me, he put the magic back into the music.” Weston also notes
“hanging out” with Eubie Blake and Bud Powell.
In
the 1950s, Randy Weston emerged as an important voice of the new jazz
language of bop, melding the traditions of Basie and Ellington with
the innovative harmonies and rhythms of Monk and Powell. Named by
Down Beat as 1955’s “New Star Pianist,” his
approach was described by poet Langston Hughes as “a combination of
strength and gentleness, virility and velvet [which] emerges from the
keys in an ebb and flow of sound, seemingly as natural as the waves
of the sea.” Among his first opportunities were gigs with blues
singer Bull Moose Jackson and bop jazz artists Eddie “Cleanhead”
Vinson, Art Blakey, Cecil Payne, and Kenny Dorham. He made his first
recording as a leader for Riverside Records in 1954, putting a modern
spin on Cole Porter (Randy Weston Plays Cole Porter).
While playing with Payne and Dorham, he wrote many of his best known
compositions, including "Saucer Eyes," "Pam's Waltz,"
and "Little Niles.” Weston (who is 6' 8") describes his
greatest hit, “Hi-Fly,” as a "tale of being my height and
looking down at the ground.” In 1957, he first met
trombonist/arranger Melba Liston, and thus ignited a musical
partnership that spanned over 40 years until Liston’s death in
1999.
 Randy Weston © Carol Friedman Weston
was becoming more and more involved in African music, and after two
tours of North and West Africa as an ambassador for the U.S. State
Department, he relocated to Morocco in 1967. He spent a year in Rabat
and six years in Tangier, where he opened the African Rhythms club
and cultural center. Weston describes African Rhythms as “an avenue
to project and respect traditional African music, and at the same
time, bring all the variations of Africa—from Cuba to Brazil to
Venezuela to the U.S.—back home.” Although Weston moved to Paris
in 1973 (and ultimately returned to New York), his musical mission
has remained unchanged—to connect the dots of the African heritage
of jazz, clearly articulated on such recordings as African
Cookbook, Uhuru Afrika (a suite for big band with poetry by
Langston Hughes), and Spirit! The Power of Music. “My band
played for audiences from Morocco and Tunisia as far east as Beruit.
We played for audiences who had never heard a concert, not to mention
a jazz concert…I would say to the audience, ‘This is your music
after it crossed the Atlantic, after it came in contact with European
civilization. Your music has changed in our hands, but the basic
traditions are still the same. This is what happened to your music.’”
Named
by Down Beat as Talent Deserving Wider Recognition in 1972,
Weston may be better known for his many compositions than for his own
performance chops; his works have been recorded
by such revered artists as Max Roach, Monty Alexander, Dexter Gordon,
Jimmy Heath, Kenny Burrell, Abbey Lincoln, Bobby Hutcherson, Lionel
Hampton, and Cannonball Adderly.
During
1990's, Weston released a series of recordings for Verve that
displayed his adventurous efforts to bring jazz back to its African
roots. "I
try to tell stories through music, stories about our heritage, so
people can get a deeper understanding of who we are," said
Weston. Spirits
of our Ancestors
(1991) was a musical history of the blues, hailed by Rolling Stone
as “the kind of 'jazz' record that, like Miles' Kind Of Blue,
connects with anyone who hears it.” In 1993, he teamed up with
Melba Liston on Volcano Blues, connecting the origins and
destinations of African music, while Khepera
(1998) merged African and Chinese music. SPIRIT!
The Power of Music (1999) featured the Randy
Weston African Rhythms Quintet and the
master Gnawa musicians of Morocco. Said Weston, "What was so
wonderful was that we had these three religions, Christianity, Islam
and Yoruba, in music…It was so spiritual, all this wonderful music
together.” Noted Russ Musto (All About Jazz), “No musician
has been more devoted to exploring the connection between
Afro-American classical music (jazz) and the ancestral spirits and
rhythms of the African continent than Randy Weston.”
Weston’s
creative output during this period resulted in three Composer of the
Year awards from Down Beat (1994, 1996, and 1999). Other
honors have included a Grammy nomination for Spirits of Our
Ancestors (1993), the French Order of Arts and Letters (1997),
Japan’s Swing Journal Award (1999), the Black Star Music
Award from the Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana
(2000), “Best Artist of the Month” for BET Television (June
2000), a Jazz Masters Fellowship from the National Endowment for the
Arts (2001), a five-night tribute at the 1995 Montreal Jazz Festival,
and tribute concerts and residencies at Harvard and New York
Universities. He recently received the Living Legacy Jazz Award for
2004 from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.
African
Rhythms
Randy
Weston’s recent explorations have often been in the company of his
African Rhythms band, in trio and larger formats (including the 2003
quintet recording, Live in St. Lucia). To Dizzy’s he will
bring the quintet, including bassist Alex Blake, African
percussionist Neil Clarke, trombonist Benny
Powell; and multi-reedist T.K. Blue.
Alex
Blake is a native of Panama where his early childhood was
infused with the richness of Central American culture. Moving to
Brooklyn at age 7, he developed as a highly versatile musician, and
became a major contributor to the fusion movement of the 1970s,
playing with drummers Lenny White and Billy Cobham. He developed a
reputation as a one-man rhythm section, a perfect collaborator for
drummers, and at times throws in some scat singing as well. His
sideman credits include Manhattan Transfer and Pharoh Sanders as well
as Randy Weston, and with his quintet he has released the recording,
Now is the Time: Live at the Knitting Factory (Bubble Core).
Neil
Clarke has studied African percussion for over 35 years. His
work has covered every genre from folkloric, jazz, and pop, to R&
B, gospel, and classical. In addition to Randy Weston, he
has worked with Harry Belafonte, Dianne Reeves, David Sanborn, Miriam
Makeba, Letta Mbulu, Paul Winter, the Spirit Ensemble, the Alvin
Ailey American Dance Theater, the International African American
Ballet, and many others. He performed in the Broadway production of
Timbuktu and in the feature film Beat Street, as well
as on numerous television appearances.
Benny
Powell has been a part of African Rhythms for fifteen years.
Wrote Nat Hentoff, "Benny Powell's playing has always had a
flowing coherence.” In addition to his flowing trombone, Powell in
recent years has expanded his musical efforts to include vocals and
songwriting, and is well known as a dedicated jazz educator and oral
historian. A native of New Orleans, Powell was a member of Lionel
Hampton’s Big Band and came into the public spotlight as a member
of Count Basie’s band for 12 years. His career has taken many
diverse paths since the 1950s, including stints with Broadway
orchestras, the Merv Griffin Show, Benny Carter, Thad Jones/Mel
Lewis, and the Heath Brothers.
T.
K. Blue grew up in New York, playing flute and sax in high
school before earning degrees from NYU and Columbia. Living in Paris,
he developed a strong partnership with Randy Weston, and has been the
pianist’s music director since 1989. He’s appeared on numerous
Weston projects and has issued three recordings as leader.
Randy
Weston and African Rhythms make a limited number of club appearances
each year. This is a unique opportunity to hear a modern interpreter
of the ancient roots of jazz and world music.
“When Randy Weston
plays a combination of strength and gentleness, virility and velvet
emerges from the keys in an ebb and flow of sound seemingly as
natural as the waves of the sea”
--Langston Hughes
Make
reservations now for Randy Weston and African Rhythms at Dizzy’s
Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, December
12-17. Weeknight sets at 7:30 and 9:30 pm with an additional 11:30
set Friday and Saturday nights. Visit
www.jalc.org
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Friday, 09 January 2009
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