Weston Randy & African Rhythm Band
Brooklyn Academy Of Music 1985
Label: In + Out
Genre: Jazz / Avant Garde
Availability
- CD Digi / Cardboard €19.99 In Stock
Other Formats
piano legend Randy Weston with three albums featuring
previously unreleased live material.
Brooklyn Academy Of Music 1985
A long-overdue homecoming: In 1985, pianist Randy Weston
returned to Brooklyn with his African Rhythm Orchestra
and Melba Liston’s radiant arrangements — merging blues,
gospel, and African trance into one powerful celebration of
roots and rhythm.
It was simply long overdue and meant nothing less than a
homecoming for him — a return in which he brought not only his
music but also stories and the soul of Africa back to his homeland.
When Randy Weston came to Brooklyn in 1985, the city finally
had the opportunity to pay proper tribute to one of its most
important musicians. With a week-long celebration culminating
in a concert on February 16 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
(BAM), they sought to honor their great son, who by then stood
among legends like Max Roach, Duke Jordan, and Cecil Payne.
For this occasion, Randy was allowed to assemble a dream
ensemble — with dancers, singers (including Andy Bey), and an
illustrious big band. The arrangements and musical direction
were entrusted to his closest collaborator and musical sister,
Melba Liston — a brilliant trombonist and masterful arranger.
She had the gift of transforming Randy’s compositions into
magnificent orchestrations that captured all the magic that
defined him.
1. African Sunrise (16:34)
2. The Last Day (04:30)
3. Portrait Of Vivian (07:05)
4. Blue Moses (17:53)
Randy Weston piano | Stanton Davis, Johnny Coles, Virgil Jones, Richard Williams trumpets
Al Grey, Benny Powell trombones | Greg Williams french horn | Greg Maker tuba | Harold
Vick tenor sax & flute | Talib Kibwe, Norris Turney alto sax & flute | Billy Harper tenor sax & flute
Cecil Payne baritone sax | Charlie Persip drums | George Duvivier bass | Sam Kelly bongos
Big Black african percussions | Shirley Steward-Farmer vocals on „The Last Day“
&
Thanks to Melba Liston, he was able to trace his musical paths —
beginning with blues, gospel, and spirituals, briefly detouring
(but not lingering) down a side street of swing, and finally arriving
at the trance-like elegies of the Gnawa, who had been brought
centuries ago as slaves to the northwest coast of Africa. No one
transformed time into harmony more consistently than Randy
Weston, and no one cultivated the percussive dimension of
the piano so deeply — an instrument that, in his hands, often
sounded like a drum set with 88 skins. From groove emerged
structure — enchantment at the highest level. The pieces bore
titles such as “African Sunrise,” “The Last Day,” “Portrait of Vivian,”
and “Blue Moses” — heavy, dark, mystical, swaying works of
art, grand and too profound ever to fit into the shallow box of
so-called “world music.” Why his collaboration with Melba Liston
worked so perfectly, Randy Weston explained like this:
“We both knew that for a recording we wanted older musicians as
the foundation. Then we brought in the younger ones. The elders
have the know-how — they know all the secrets about music that
we don’t. The younger ones bring in the energy. Melba always
made sure we had that foundation.”