Randy Weston's Fascinating Musical Journey

Randy Weston
African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston
Composed by Randy Weston, Arranged by Willard Jenkins
2011: Duke University Press


2011 has seen a number of important biographies and autobiographies involving significant jazz and blues artists. One of the best may be African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston. Instead of the usually by x as told to y, this book informs us it was composed by Randy Weston and arranged by Willard Jenkins. This probably more accurately describes the process which the great composer and pianist Weston and journalist, educator and broadcaster Jenkins produced this book.

Weston has led a remarkable life, growing up in a very culturally aware home and having crossed paths with and worked together with some of the most remarkable individuals. His father was a follower of Marcus Garvey and the message of self-determination that is seen in his pride as a black man and this is reflected in his life. The rich narrative takes us from his growing up in Brooklyn in a neighborhood where Max Roach, Cecil Payne, Duke Jordan and Ray Copeland were also growing up to his embrace of the "Motherland" including his travels there and his living there and operating a famed club there to being recognized as the Jazz Master he is.


The narrative takes us to the Berkshires where Weston's a career as a jazz pianist began with him participating in programs on jazz history with pioneering jazz historian, Marshall Stearns and then made his first recordings with bassist Sam Gill for Riverside, followed by one that used his own compositions and an early live recording. The memories and perspective of Orrin Keepnews who produced those early recordings are quite valuable. He is simply one of many of Weston's associates who help fill in the story.


Melba Liston is amongst the most amazing of the persons that Weston has been associated with and we are introduced to her. They worked together first on the Little Niles, record date and her arrangements continued to enhance his music over the decades, even when she had suffered significant health setbacks. And then there was Weston's Uhuru Afrika, his suite dedicated to Mother Africa, and his involvement with the African American Musicians Society. While known as a composer already, he considered this his major work to date and collaborated with many including Langston Hughes, Yusef Lateef, Ron Carter, Clark Terry, Charles Perslip and others. It also took some effort to get his label to release this project with Weston having to do an album based on a Broadway show. But it did, and he also recalls later performances of this suite. And its message was heard, leading to the South African government banning it.


Weston would soon make a pilgrimage to Africa as well as tour their with his band whether playing pioneering festivals or on State Department sponsored tours. Eventually, Weston settled in Tangier which became the base for much of his activities and opened up his African Rhythms Club, which became a focal point for jazz and African Culture in North Africa. It was also where he connected with the remarkable Gnawa people with whom he developed a close rapport as a people and their music.


And at some point he returns to the United States and resumes his career as an honored elder of the music. He discusses some of his compositions and other significant performances, talks about his present band and its members (and they contribute their impressions as well). African Rhythms also contains a discography of his recordings and a list of the honors he has received. It is a truly wonderful read.


This was a purchase.

Randy Weston's Blues Eruption

One of the dilemmas of writing about jazz and blues is that recordings go in and out of print, no matter how meritorious the recording is. One case in point is the Randy Weston album, Volcano Blues that was issued on Antilles and now found on Amazon as a rare collectible or as a used gem. It was a particularly appealing album for me in that in included two vocals by the late Texas blues man, Johnny Copeland. And of course it had the marvelous arrangements by Melba Liston, Weston’s longtime collaborator. Anyway here is a review I did of it back in the January-February 1994 issue of Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 188) of an album that certainly holds up today, and hopefully will get reissued soon.

Pianist-Composer, Randy Weston, and arranger, Melba Liston, have teamed for an exploration of the blues in its various forms as they lead a little big band which includes Wallace Roney on trumpet, Hamiet Bluett on baritone sax, Teddy Edwards on tenor sax, Ted Dunbar on guitar and Charlie Persip on drums. Comprised mostly of Weston’s compositions, the voicings of Liston’s arrangements add more than punch to these intriguing explorations in the blues. Texas bluesman Johnny Copeland performs accompanied solely by his acoustic guitar, Blue Mood, a Jessie Mae Robinson composition that T-Bone Walker first recorded. Eschewing his guitar, Copeland also reprises Jimmy Rushing’ vocal on Harvard Blues, which, like the Caribbean flavored Volcano, is taken from the Count Basie orchestra book. It should be noted that one expecting to hear wailing Kansas City jazz with plenty of blowing solos will be disappointed as Weston and Liston explore a variety of aspects of the blues but in a more deliberate approach. Links with Africa are explored on Chalabati Blues, anchored by Jamil Naser’s steady bass line and framed by Liston’s imaginative arrangements. Wallace Roney’s trumpet shines on Sad Beauty Blues, a Weston composition featuring another carefully worked out Weston solo. More African flavor underlies The Nafs, a feature for Hamiet Bluett’s gut bucket baritone sax. In addition to Copeland’s vocal, Harvard Blues sports a splendid tenor solo from Teddy Edwards who also solos on Blues for Strayhorn, which Weston originally wrote for (and performed at) the funeral of Duke Ellington’s right hand man. Both Weston’s piano and Liston’s scoring capture the Ellington flavor here. J.K Blues is a tight bop blues reminiscent of some of the hot blues instrumentals recorded forty years ago, although this performance is distinguished by the many fine concise solos. Weston is the primary soloist on piano and while economical playing, like that of Basie and Monk, shows that it is what one plays and says that matters, not how many notes are played. While the liner notes get pretentious at spots, there is little else to fault about this consistently thoughtful, earthy and rewarding recording.

There are copies available on ebay as well as amazon.

Weston & Liston's Blues Eruption

The following review originally appeared in the January-February 1994 Jazz & Blues Report. As originally written it contains one major gaffe that I have corrected here. This is a part of the Johnny 'Clyde' Copeland recorded legacy I would suspect most are unaware of. This is well worth trying to acquire at used CD stores or ebay auctions.

Pianist-Composer, Randy Weston, and arranger, Melba Liston, have teamed for an exploration of the blues in its various forms, Volcano Blues (Gitanes), as they lead a little big band which includes Wallace Roney on trumpet, Hamiet Bluett on baritone sax, Teddy Edwards on tenor sax, Ted Dunbar on guitar and Charlie Persip on drums. Comprised mostly of Weston’s compositions, the voicings of Liston’s arrangements add more than punch to these intriguing explorations in the blues. Texas bluesman Johnny Copeland performs on unaccompanied acoustic guitar, Blue Mood, a Jessie Mae Robinson composition that T-Bone Walker first recorded. Eschewing his guitar, Copeland also reprises Jimmy Rushing’ vocal on a Count Basie recording, Harvard Blues, which like the Caribbean flavored Volcano, is taken from the Count Basie orchestra book. It should be noted that one expecting to hear wailing Kansas City jazz with plenty of blowing solos will be disappointed as Weston and Liston explore a variety of aspects of the blues. Links with Africa are explored on Chalabati Blues, which is anchored by Jamil Naser’s steady bass line and framed by Liston’s imaginative horn voicings. Wallace Roney’s hard bop trumpet shines on Sad Beauty Blues, a Weston composition featuring another carefully worked out Weston solo. More African flavor underlies The Nafs, a feature for Hamiet Bluett’s gut bucket baritone sax. In addition to Copeland’s vocal, Harvard Blues sports a splendid tenor solo from Teddy Edwards who also solos on Blues for Strayhorn, which Weston originally wrote for (and performed at) the funeral of Duke Ellington’s right hand man. Both Weston’s piano and Liston’s scoring capture the Ellington flavor. J.K Blues is a tight bop blues reminiscent of some of the hot blues instrumentals recorded forty years ago, although this performance is distinguished by the concise solos. The supporting cast features some great players who shine here. Weston is the primary soloist on piano and while economical playing, like that of Basie and Monk, shows that it is what one plays and says that matters, not how many notes are played. While the liner notes get pretentious at spots, there is little else to fault about this consistently thoughtful, earthy and rewarding recording.