Synthesis of two styles coming together
COMPUTERJAZZMAN | Cliffside Park, New Jersey United States | 09/14/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Randy Weston, has basically had two different phases of his musical career: his earlier work, which is more hard bop, bluesy kind of jazz, and his later work which is caharcterized by his emphasis on African beats, rhythms and melodies. The music recorded on this CD came at a time (1964) when he was basically transitioning from one style to the other one, and as a result, there are elements of both here but I would say there is more emphasis on the former than the latter. His forthcoming output would be a lot more deeply steeped in African music. And on this CD, there is great sax playing by Booker Ervin, who was a mainstay in Weston's band at that time (The much later album Khepara, features another great sax player, Pharoah Sanders, and it is interesting to note the contrast in their styles)."