Randy Weston — R.I.P.

User avatar
Ron Thorne
Fadda Timekeeper
Posts: 3072
Joined: June 27th, 2013, 4:14 pm
Location: Anchorage, Alaska

Randy Weston — R.I.P.

Postby Ron Thorne » September 2nd, 2018, 3:55 pm

Randy Weston, Pianist Who Traced Roots of Jazz to Africa, Dies at 92

Image
Randy Weston performing in 1963. His playing and composing emphasized the African roots of jazz.CreditCreditChuck Stewart/Mosaic Records

By Giovanni Russonello

Sept. 1, 2018

Randy Weston, an esteemed pianist whose music and scholarship advanced the argument — now broadly accepted — that jazz is, at its core, an African music, died on Saturday at his home in Brooklyn. He was 92.

His death was confirmed by his lawyer, Gail Boyd.

On his earliest recordings, in the mid-1950s for the Riverside label, Mr. Weston almost fit the profile of a standard bebop musician: He recorded jazz standards and galloping original tunes in a typical small-group format. But his sharply cut harmonies and intense, gnarled rhythms conveyed a manifestly Afrocentric sensibility, one that was slightly more barbed and rugged than the popular hard-bop sound of the day.

Early on, he exhibited a distinctive voice as a composer. “Hi-Fly,” which he first released in 1958 on the LP “New Faces at Newport,” became a standard. And he eventually distinguished himself as a solo pianist, reflecting the influence of his main idol, Thelonious Monk.

But more than Monk, Mr. Weston liked constantly to reshape his cadences, rarely lingering on a steady pulse.

Full Story
"Timing is everything" - Peppercorn
http://500px.com/rpthorne
Jazzooo
Founding Member
Posts: 335
Joined: June 27th, 2013, 5:14 pm

Re: Randy Weston — R.I.P.

Postby Jazzooo » September 14th, 2018, 7:09 am

92! Good to see him hang on that long. Hope he enjoyed the ride. RIP sir.
BeBop
Founding Member
Posts: 246
Joined: June 27th, 2013, 6:11 pm
Location: Space, it is the place

Re: Randy Weston — R.I.P.

Postby BeBop » September 16th, 2018, 3:14 pm

The final of a half-dozen times I had the pleasure, I heard Randy Weston as part of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival at Marcus Garvey Park, late August 2016. He was ninety. Inspired and inspiring, still. Thanks.

Return to “R.I.P. (Jazz)”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests