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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZWESTON, Randy(b 6 April 1926, Brooklyn, NY; d there 1 September 2018) Pianist, composer, teacher with unique voice, his style influenced by Thelonious Monk, with an interest in African and West Indian music. His best-known tunes included 'Saucer Eyes', 'Hi- Fly', 'Little Niles', 'Babe's Blues', 'Cry Me Not', 'African Cook Book'. He worked with Art Blakey and others in the late '40s; led his own trios/quartets since '55, playing many colleges, museums, festivals; visited Nigeria '61, '63; ran a club in Tangiers '70, back in USA '72. He recorded for UA, Jubilee, Dawn, Roulette, Colpix and his own Bakton label (sessions issued on Atlantic), all '56-64; Riverside LPs mid-'50s included Get Happy, With These Hands, Jazz à la Bohemia, sidemen including Blakey, Cecil Payne; How High The Moon '56 on Biograph added Ray Copeland. Later LPs: Berkshire Blues on Black Lion, sessions recorded for Arista '64-5, Blues '67 on Trip with Copeland and others; Carnival -- aka Live At Montreux '74 -- with a quintet; solo Blues To Africa on Arista/Freedom; Tanjah and African Rhythms on Polydor; Blue Moses on CTI; African Cookbook on Atlantic; similar solo sets African Night on Owl, Nuit Africaine on Enja '75 recorded in Paris. Perspective '76 on Denon was a duo with Vishnu Wood on bass. There were several more European or obscure albums including solo sets; the nine-piece band including Copeland, Budd Johnson etc playing Tanjah '73 was reissued on Verve CD, and a new deal with Verve resulted in a brilliant series of albums: Portrait Of Thelonious Monk, Of Duke Ellington and Self Portraits were recorded on successive days '89 with Jamil Nasser on bass, Idris Muhammad on drums, Eric Asante on percussion; two-CD The Spirits Of Our Ancestors '91 had an eleven-piece band arranged by Melba Liston plus guests Dizzy Gillespie and Pharoah Sanders (African Sunrise on Antilles included selections from Ancestors; 11-piece The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians Of Morocco was also on Antilles, as was Volcano Blues with a different eleven pieces including Teddy Edwards, Ted Dunbar, Hamiet Bluiett, Wallace Roney etc); solo set Marrakech In The Cool Of The Evening '92 followed duo, trio and quartet tracks on Saga '95 on Verve, the best kind of music: both serious and good fun. Sextet Monterey '66 with Copeland and Payne was issued '93; Earth Birth '97 had a trio with strings arranged by Liston, both on Verve. There were quite a few albums altogether, always highly rated by musicians and by the jazz press, but without gaining the wider reputation with the public that he deserved. |