The Jazz Scene with Ken Brady

PIANIST RANDY WESTON, has deservedly been the subject of much laudatory writing over the years, and jazz lovers will be able to hear the words brought to life at the upcoming Panama International Jazz Festival.

African American poet and playwright, Langston Hughes, wrote:

When Randy Weston plays (piano)

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 from the sea

Pianist Marian McPartland described Randy as, “…one of the world’s great visionary pianists and composers”. And, jazz critic, Stanley Crouch, is quoted as saying that Weston has the biggest sound of any Jazz pianist since Duke Ellington or Thelonious Monk.

Born in Brooklyn, in 1926, Randy Weston has roots in the Blues and Jazz of his legendary 70 year career. He studied piano at the prestigious Boys’ High School in Brooklyn, and, following a stint in the army, managed a restaurant frequented by popular bebop musicians. Randy’s heroes of that era were Count Basie, Art Tatum, and many others, but he was most enamored by Thelonious Monk. Weston began working with bands that included cats like, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and Bullmoose Jackson in the 1940’s. The mid 1950’s saw Randy playing with Kenny Dorham, and Cecil Payne. He also formed his own group and recording his first release, Randy Weston Plays Cole Porter. He gained quick recognition from the jazz press, and released a host of fine albums.

The 1960’s saw many Jazz artists flock to Europe, but Randy Weston chose mother Africa, the source of the music. While there, he was selected to join a US cultural delegation, with stops in Morocco and throughout the continent. While in Tangier he decided to stay. He opened his African Rhythms Club, and continued recording and touring in North Africa from 1967 to 1972. After performing at the 1977 Nigerian Festival featuring  music from 60 cultures, Weston realized that all their music, although different was the same, proclaiming, “…if you take out the African elements from Bossa Nova, Samba, Jazz and Blues you have nothing left”! He commented,“…I’m not playing Jazz, I’m playing African music”.

While still in Tangier Weston collaborated with saxophone innovator Billy Harper, a great Texas Blues man, whose sound Weston described as “…straight out of Africa”. In addition, he commented that, “… when Billy plays the tenor saxophone it’s like an orchestra”! The pair has been playing together since 1974. In 2013 they  produced their first release as a duo, The Roots of the Blues, a recording that combines their love of the Blues and world music. Weston explains, “…this one is for our ancestors who came out of the Nile Valley civilization. They are the foundation of what we do today”.

In 2010  All About Jazz, said: “Whether advocating Black musicians’ rights in the 1960’s, recording with traditional African musicians in the 1990’s, or inaugurating the new Library of Alexandria in Egypt in the 2000’s, the common thread which runs through African Rhythms is Weston’s enduring love affair with African culture and its importance as the progenitor of Jazz and pretty much everything else besides”

The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music has named Randy Weston its’ first Artist-In-Residence, for the academic year 2015-16.

He joins a stellar lineup at the  Jazz Festival January 12 to 17.