Jazz Articles about Randy Weston

About Randy Weston

Radio & Podcasts

Remembering Randy Weston on his centennial

by Larry Slater
September 18, 2026

Two legendary artists, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, celebrated their centennial in 2026. Lost in the numerous tributes to these towering figures are several important artists whose centennial has been overlooked.Randy Weston was a pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Described as “America's African Musical Ambassador," Weston once said: “What I do I do because it's about teaching and informing everyone about our most natural cultural phenomenon. It's really about Africa and ...

Book Review

The Jazz Barn: Music Inn, the Berkshires, and the Place of Jazz in American Life

by Katchie Cartwright
October 15, 2025

The Jazz Barn: Music Inn, the Berkshires, and the Place of Jazz in American Life John Gennari 264 Pages ISBN: #978-1-68458-285-3 Brandeis University Press 2025 Award-winning author, University of Vermont professor and Berkshire County native John Gennari encapsulates his fascinating history of The Jazz Barn simply. “This a book about what happened in the 1950s in a barn, icehouse, and greenhouse and in the rolling meadows, winding wooded ...

Radio & Podcasts

Randy Weston, Roy Haynes, Wayne Shorter

by David Brown
March 7, 2023

This week, our featured artist is pianist, composer and seeker of his ancestral African connection, Randy Weston; a set featuring one of the most recorded drummers in jazz history, Roy Haynes, from Coltrane to Etta Jones will follow. The show continues with a set of tracks recorded live at San Francisco's fabled night club the Blackhawk featuring Monk, Miles and Manne, and finally, a celebration of saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter who sadly passed away this week. Playlist Thelonious Monk ...

Radio & Podcasts

Highlights of Jazz in the Late 1990s (1995 - 1999)

by Russell Perry
June 30, 2020

This is the 96th of 100 programs in the Jazz at 100 series. As we present more recent music, we face the historian's dilemma, what performances will have lasting value? What players will be remembered for their contributions to advancing the music? What trends will turn into dominant themes? We are following the lead of critic Gary Giddins who wrote an essay entitled “Postwar Jazz: An Arbitrary Roadmap (1945—2001)" where he told the story of post-war jazz through a discussion ...

Radio & Podcasts

Weston Culture

by Patrick Burnette
November 1, 2018

Inspired by Randy Weston's passing, Mike and Pat explore four pivotal albums from the pianist/composer's long career, taking in works from 1960 to 2003. Weston's collaboration with trombonist/arranger Melba Liston is discussed in some depth, as her contributions were crucial to some of his greatest recordings. Pat laments not including Weston's album Highlife from 1963, which he says is his favorite of Weston's collaborations with Liston, while Mike explains the religious origins of “Blue Moses." Playlist Discussion of Randy Weston's ...

Radio & Podcasts

Randy Weston Tribute & New Releases

by Ludovico Granvassu
September 11, 2018

Another master has left us. Randy Weston passed away on Sept. 1st at the venerable age of 92. This week we celebrate the music of an artist that consciously built a bridge between jazz and African musical traditions and, in doing so, strongly contributed to the awareness of the African roots of jazz music. This episode will then feature some interesting new releases by Phronesis, Stefon Harris, Stephane Spira, Fred Hersch and others. Happy listening! ...

Interview

Randy Weston: The Spirit of Our Ancestors

by Ludovico Granvassu
September 7, 2018

To commemorate the Randy Weston, we've republished this 1999 interview that traces his life and career, from his birth in Brooklyn to the years spent in Africa, from his admiration for Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington to his collaboration with Melba Liston. Every year, Harvard's Department of Music devotes part of its academic year to the study of great jazz masters. Thanks to this program, musicians such as Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Lester Bowie, Steve Lacy, Illinois ...