Personnel:
Randy Weston (p), Ray Copeland (tp), Frank Haynes (ts), George Joyner, Bill Wood (b), Gilbert G.T. Hoogan, Lenny McBrowne (d), Big Black (conga)
Reference: FSRCD 433
Bar code: 8427328604338
Although he has achieved neither the popularity of Peterson nor the mystique of Monk, Randy Weston is one of the most important contributors to modern music, both as a pianist and as a composer. In the 1950s he became one of the first soloists to compose and perform jazz successfully in waltz time. He was also among the earliest to bring to his music a sense of the importance of his African heritage, in his search for "the real link between Africa and American jazz. This is the link I want to get into", he said. "I feel it will really make jazz grow".
While many of his works illustrate either one or the other of these
initiatives, Weston has also retained his ties with the swinging essence of jazz represented by the Gillespie-Parker school of the 40s.
