Here’s an album that was recorded in NOLA Studios, New York City on October of the year 1964 by Randy Weston. It should be in any Jazz fan’s collection. It was originally released as an LP album under another name, “Randy.” Randy Weston had to produce it on his own independent label named Bakton basically because there was no interest. It was released later in 1972 and with the title “African Cookbook.” Why, I have no idea! It doesn’t matter either because the songs are the same, great and cannot be avoided, enjoy! I will be featuring the whole album, check the schedule link for play times.
Here’s an image of the original album:
About the Album:
AFRICAN COOKBOOK
Randy Weston has long been an important and highly original pianist and composer within musicians’ circles. This album, which Randy produced and released himself in limited edition, is among his finest works and has become a valuable collectors’ item among those of us who have known of its existence. 1972 Michael Cuscuna
Africa, the cradle of civilization, is my ancestral home, the home of my spirit and my soul. Africa has always been part of me, and I knew I’d have to go there sooner or later. In 1961 I finally did and again in 1963, both times to Nigeria. Then my sextet and I toured fourteen countries in West and North Africa in 1967, and in 1968 I went back to stay; I’ve been living in Tangier, Morocco ever since.
For me, the most compelling aspect of African culture, North, South, East and West, is its music, magnificent in its diversity, with the “true drums” – African rhythms – always at heart. The music of no other civilization can rival that of Africa in the complexity and subtlety of its rhythms. All modern music, no matter what it’s called – jazz, gospel, Latin, rock, bossa nova, calypso, samba, soul, the blues, even the “freedom” music of the avant-garde – is in debt to Africa rhythms…..Read More
Biography of Randy Weston:
Pianist Randy Weston was raised in Brooklyn, New York, the son of parents from Jamaica. As a boy he listened to Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Art Tatum, and began studying the piano himself. The bebop and R & B music that swelled within New York City proved to be a major influence, but it is a melding of those styles with African rhythms that have made Weston’s sound so distinguishable.
Mentored by Thelonious Monk, Weston left his R & B gigs with musicians such as saxophonist Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson in the early 1950s to play bebop with trumpeter Kenny Dorham.
In 1960, inspired by Nigeria’s newly won independence from the United Kingdom, Weston fell in love with African music. He began to experiment with elements of tribal music as well as those of High Life, Nigerian pop music. On his 1960 album Uhuru Afrika (for which Langston Hughes wrote the liner notes), Weston composed for large ensemble, and employed traditional African percussion and rhythms as a framework for a jazz suite.
Weston’s affinity for African music became the force behind dozens of albums released over the next four decades. He even moved to Morocco between 1968 and 1973, and absorbed the rhythms of traditional Gnawa music…….Learn More
