Randy Weston

Randy Weston (born April 6, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York), is an American jazz pianist and composer, of Jamaican parentage. Weston studied classical piano as a child but did not have to travel far to hear the jazz giants who were to influence him. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he ran a restaurant that was frequented by many of the leading bebop musicians. Among his piano heroes are numbered Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Art Tatum and Duke Ellington (and Wynton Kelly was a cousin), but it was Thelonious Monk who had the greatest impact. Weston has had a considerable career in jazz as a pianist, composer, and bandleader. In the late 1940s he began gigging with bands including Bullmoose Jackson, Frank Culley and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson. He worked with Kenny Dorham in 1953 and in 1954 with Cecil Payne, before forming his own trio and quartet and releasing his debut recording as a leader in 1954, Cole Porter In a Modern Mood. He was voted New Star Pianist in Down Beat magazine's International Critics' Poll of 1955. Several notable albums followed, including Little Niles near the end of that decade. His piano style owes much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk (he has paid direct tribute to both), but it is highly distinctive in its qualities: percussive, highly rhythmic, capable of producing a wide variety of moods. In the 1960s, Weston's music prominently incorporated African elements, as shown on the large-scale suite Uhuru Africa (with the participation of poet Langston Hughes) and Highlife: Music From the New African Nations; on both these albums he teamed up with the arranger Melba Liston. In addition, during these years his band often featured the great tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin. He covered the Nigerian Bobby Benson's hit "Taxi Driver", which included Caribbean and Jazz elements within a Highlife style.[2] In 1967 Weston traveled throughout Africa with a U.S. cultural delegation. The last stop of the tour was Morocco, where he decided to settle, running his African Rhythms Club, from 1967 to 1972. For a long stretch he recorded infrequently and on obscure labels. However, he made quite an impact with the two-CD recording The Spirits of Our Ancestors (recorded 1991; released 1992), which featured arrangements by his long-time collaborator Melba Liston. The album contained new, expanded versions of many of his greatest pieces and featured a tight ensemble, including some African musicians. Legendary guests such as Dizzy Gillespie and Pharoah Sanders also contibuted. Randy Weston has since produced a series of first-rate albums in a variety of formats: solo, trio, mid-sized groups, and collaborations with the Gnawa musicians of Morocco. Weston’s best known compositions include "Hi-Fly" (which he has said was inspired by his experience of being 6' 8" and looking down at the ground), "Little Niles" (named for his son, later known as Azzedine), "African Sunrise," "Blue Moses," "The Healers" and "Berkshire Blues." Regarded as jazz standards, they have frequently been recorded by other eminent musicians, among them: Cannonball Adderley, Monty Alexander, Ray Baretto, Art Blakey, Roy Brooks, Ray Bryant, Kenny Burrell, Betty Carter, Ron Carter, Johnny Coles, Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin, Dexter Gordon, Lionel Hampton, Sheila Hampton, Jimmy Heath, Jon Hendricks, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Abdullah Ibrahim, Ahmad Jamal, Talib Kibwe, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Abbey Lincoln, Cecil Payne, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach, George Shearing, Archie Shepp, Carly Simon, Jimmy Smith and Mel Tormé. After five decades devoted to music, Randy Weston remains one of the world's visionary pianists and composers, who continues to be an innovator and educator, touring throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Europe. In 2002 he performed with bassist James Lewis for the inauguration of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt. That same year he performed with Gnawa musicians at Canterbury Cathedral at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. He had the honour of playing at the Kamigamojinja Shrine in Japan in 2005. He has been the recipient of many international awards, including: in 1997 the French Order of Arts and Letters; in 1999 the Japan's Swing Journal Award; and in 2000 the Black Star Award from the Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana. In June 2006, he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music by Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.