Pianist and composer Randy Weston was America’s jazz griot. The significance of jazz was, as Weston referred to it, “the music of our ancestors or African classical music.” He performed and spoke of jazz in its ancestral African essence as sprouting from African roots, a most important factor that Weston actively perpetuated throughout his life (as is referenced in Robin d.g. Kelley’s book “Africa Speaks, America Answers: Modern Jazz in Revolutionary Times.”
His intoxicating connection to the motherland can be felt on such innovating albums as “Uhuru Afrika” (Roulette, 1960) and “African Cookbook” (Comet Records, 1969). Some years later, his Pan Africanism and brilliant musicianship could be heard on his two-CD recording “The Spirits of Our Ancestors” (Verve, 1991), which featured arrangements by his long-time collaborator Melba Liston. The ensemble also included some African musicians, as well as guests Dizzy Gillespie, Pharoah Sanders, and music director/saxophonist T.K. Blue.
This double-set once again demonstrated Weston’s creative vision of uniting the roots of Africa with straight-ahead jazz to bebop and the blues. The brilliance of his percussive melodies and sweet harmonies reflects reasons why many of his compositions are jazz standards, such as “Little Niles,” “Hi-Fly,” “African Sunrise,” “Blue Moses,” “The Healers,” “C.W. Blues,” and “Berkshire Blues.”
Weston produced a series of influential albums (1954–2018) in a variety of configurations: solo, trio, large ensembles, and innovative collaborations with the Gnawa musicians of Morocco. His quintet African Rhythms (that he originally started in the late 1950s) was his long-standing group until his transition. The group’s sound was a reverberation of African roots immersed in Weston’s jazz dialogue: the roots of Latin America and Cuba.
On September 21–23, the cross-cultural “music of the ancestors” by the native Brooklyn pianist will be reincarnated at Dizzy’s jazz club as African Rhythms alumni pay tribute to Randy Weston with two shows each night at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
The long-standing core alumni include saxophonist and flautist T.K. Blue, pianist Sharp Radway, bassist Alex Blake, and percussionist Chief baba Neil Clarke. They will be joined on September 21 by Ganawan musicians Maalem Hassan Benlaafar on gimbre and vocals, Amino Belvamani on Karkabas and vocals, and Naofal Atig on Karkabas and vocals. Special guests will include tenor saxophonist Craig Handy, trombonist Frank Lacy (9/22), and violinist Regina Carter (9/23). Carter will be featured on excerpts from Weston’s acclaimed suite “Ancient Future” (2002, Mutable).
As a pianist, Radway was not a member of African Rhythms, but he is a long-time student and protegé of Weston “Every time this band comes together, I feel Randy’s presence,” said Radway. “I consider this a great honor.”
The relationship with African Rhythms and Dizzy’s dates back to 2009 when the group’s performance was later released as a live album entitled “The Storyteller” (Motema). The show featured Weston’s trusted working band (Benny Powell, Clarke, Blake, and Blue), plus the drummer Lewis Nash. The album served as a testament to the great artistry of trombonist Powell, who has transitioned.
“I am very thrilled that Dizzy’s has agreed to honor Randy,” said Blue. “The African Rhythms Alumni Quartet will play some of Randy’s most revered works. I am so honored to have been with Randy for 38 years, as a friend, bandmate, and his music director. He was an exceptional human being.”
For reservations, visit 2023jazz.org.
Prominent tenor saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers’s astute knowledge of music theory led him to become an influential musician, arranger, and composer in the jazz cosmos. He had a brief stint with Miles Davis—just long enough to appear on one recording, “Miles in Tokyo” (Sony/CBS 1964) before signing with Blue Note Records (1964) and recording four albums. His debut album “Fuchsia Swing Song” (featuring Jaki Byard, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams) became the blueprint song for all tenor saxophonists to master if they were really serious.
By the 1970s, Rivers’s adventurous playing on the jazz edge in and out led to him and his wife Bea founding Studio RivBea, a jazz loft in Lower Manhattan. “It was the major space where we had a platform to sit in with incredible big bands and small groups,” said trombonist Craig Harris. “Sam nourished a whole generation of musicians.” The New York loft scene was the epitome of avant garde jazz.
In the early 1990s, Rivers and Beatrice moved to Florida, in part to expand his orchestra compositions with a band in Orlando. This band became the longest-running incarnation of the RivBea Orchestra.
On September 22, the Harlem Jazz Series will celebrate the Centennial Year of Sam Rivers (9/25/1923–12/26/2011) at Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church (15 Mount Morris Park West at 122nd Street), at 7 p.m.
The New York All-Star RivBea Orchestra will feature saxophonists Steve Coleman, Lee Odom, Ravi Coltrane, Roman Filiu, and James Carter; trombonists Ray Anderson and Harris; euphonium player Joseph Daley; trumpeters Jonathan Finlayson, Eddie Allen, Ralph Alessi, and Nathan Eklund; tuba player Bob Stewart; bassist Doug Matthews; and drummer Tony Lewis.
“When Joe Daley called to say ‘we have to do something in honor of Sam,’ I was ready,” said Harris. “We called Steve Coleman and began calling musicians, and they were all in (seven of the musicians played with Rivers). We contacted the University of Pittsburgh, where Sam’s archives are located, and they gave us permission to use the music. His daughter Monica, living in Florida, gave us her blessing.”
The three organizers are also arranging Rivers’s music, which will include compositions from his last two albums, Celebration (Post-Tone, 2004) and Mosaic Select: Trilogy with the RivBea Orchestra (Mosaic, 2011; 3 CDs).
Rivers provided a musicians’ sanctuary—Studio RivBea was a place where musicians, particularly those on the edge, could play and get paid. “He charged an admission and at the end of the night, he gave the door admissions to the musicians,” said Harris. “Sam gave us gigs and a place to explore the music. The first Studio RivBea was originally located in Harlem on 112th Street, right at the (traffic) Triangle. Sam was an architect who set the path for us. He is the reason why I give concerts in Harlem on a weekly basis.”
For more information and tickets, visit harlemjazzboxx.com.
The iconic saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, who made spiritualism a focal point of the jazz pantheon, will be celebrated at the inaugural John Coltrane Jazz Festival on September 24, at Marcus Garvey Park/Richard Rodgers Amphitheatre (124th Street & Fifth Avenue).
The all-day free festival, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., celebrating Coltrane’s birthday, will present a string of noted saxophonists with international reputations, including Bill Saxton, Alvin Flythe, Todd Herbert, Sweet Lee Odom, Patience Higgins, T.K. Blue, and John S. Mannan, who will join three rhythm sections to play the enthralling music of Coltrane from the Miles Davis/Monk era through the Impulse Record years. Tap dancer and hoofer Omar Edwards will bring his improvisational tapping sound to the celebrated Coltrane repertoire.
The festival will open with the legendary NEA Jazz Master bassist, composer, and educator Reggie Workman Group. Workman is the elder-statesman and one of jazz’s most prominent bassists, having recorded more than a dozen albums with Coltrane, including such significant contributions as “Ballads,” “Inpressions,” “Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard,” “Ole,” and “African/Brass.”
The festival is hosted by State Senator Cordelle Cleare and produced in partnership with a host of nonprofit jazz and community organizations.
There were many firsts in this year’s 36th U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. The jazz vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant performed “America the Beautiful” on Saturday night as the American flag was unfurled across the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Coco Gauff became the first female teenager to win the Open since Serena Williams in 1999 (she becomes the 10th teenager overall). She defeated Aryna Sabalenka, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
***In the September 7 column, Paul Griffin was omitted as a partner of Harlem Late Night Jazz.