Jazz Articles about Randy Weston

Randy Weston: Music of The Earth

by R.J. DeLuke
June 28, 2017

Pianist Randy Weston has long been known to be a student of his African heritage and proud of it. Born in Brooklyn, he has lived in Africa, been involved with musicians there--he has been involved with the entirety of its culture. An expert? “I've lived there for years, man, and I know nothing," he says with a bold, generous laugh that speckles many of his comments. “I'm no expert on anything because you're dealing with the magic ...

Claudio Sessa: Improvviso singolare

by Maurizio Zerbo
September 3, 2015

Improvviso singolare Claudio Sessa 143 Pagine ISBN: 978-8862317689 Il Saggiatore 2015 543 pp. Claudio Sessa è uno dei più originali storici italiani dell'estetica jazzistica. Lo dimostra emblematicamente questo libro, destinato a lasciare un segno indelebile sulla letteratura jazzistica. L'autorevolezza e l'acume critico portano l'autore a scrivere pagine memorabili, scardinando valutazioni ampiamente sclerotizzate. Paradigmatica è in tal senso la pagina 351, dedicata alla bossa nova ed al disco ("Getz/Gilberto") ...

Randy Weston: Blue Moses

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
August 30, 2011

Brooklyn-born, six-foot-seven octogenarian pianist/composer Randy Weston has literally been a larger-than-life jazz force for six decades: his percussive pianism was forged from a distinguished keyboard continuum, ranging from Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk to John Lewis; his “Little Niles" and “Hi-Fly" are well-worn jazz standards; and the pianist may well be the greatest exponent of the African roots of America's classical music. Weston lived in Morocco in the 1960s and '70s, opened a jazz club there, and was virtually a ...

Randy Weston: Blue Moses

by Chris May
August 24, 2011

Randy WestonBlue MosesCTI Masterworks2011 (1972) Sony's program of reissues from CTI--the label set up by producer Creed Taylor in the late 1960s, post Impulse!, which he also founded, and post Verve, where he had moved on leaving Impulse!--continues with one of the brightest jewels in the CTI vaults. Like the sixteen discs which Sony have already reissued, pianist and composer Randy Weston's Blue Moses has not previously been ...

Randy Weston: African Stories, African Rhythms

by Ian Patterson
November 8, 2010

In over 60 years as a leader, pianist Randy Weston has achieved an incredible amount. He has recorded nearly 50 albums and has been hailed in the process as the natural heir to Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Three times he has been voted Downbeat's composer of the year, and his compositions have been recorded by the likes of Ahmad Jamal, Cannonball Adderley, Roland Kirk, Dexter Gordon, Abbey Lincoln, Abdullah Ibrahim and Jimmy Heath amongst others. In 2001, his significance ...

The Autobiography of Randy Weston: African Rhythms

by Ian Patterson
October 14, 2010

The Autobiography of Randy Weston: African RhythmsRandy Weston / Willard JenkinsHardcover; 344 pagesISBN: 978-0-8223-4784-2Duke University Press2010 It's hard to think of another jazz musician who has promoted the African roots of jazz with quite the missionary zeal of pianist Randy Weston. Weston's African consciousness was awakened by his father, who taught his son that he was an African in Brooklyn. As this autobiography demonstrates, Weston's musical journey--indeed ...

The Randy Weston African Rhythms Trio at Birdland

by Martin Longley
October 19, 2007

The Randy Weston African Rhythms Trio Birdland New York, New York October 3, 2007

The extremely tall Weston hunkers over his dwarfed piano, looking years younger than his eight decades ought to allow. He's in relaxed mode for this intimate late-night gathering on the opening night of his residency. The African experience has been central to the Brooklynite Weston's musical life from a very early point, even though it took him a while ...