Search - Randy Weston :: Blues to Africa

Jazz Solo Piano - without the cliches

happydogpotatohead | New Orleans, LA USA | 02/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Thoughtful and vigorous solo piano recording from a very underrated performer/composer. After a few rotations you begin to note that Weston nods in the direction of Duke Ellington and Thelonius Monk, but it's not a bow of worship, just a tip of the hat before he takes off into his own territory. Weston concentrates on composition and performance, and both are excellent. His mastery of the highest registers of the piano, especially on "Tangier Bay," is excellent. He can also pound out dense tone clusters or finesse sparse chords with clarity. The man has precision AND soul, which you very seldom find in one person. His compositions here are fat with melodic ideas, and even when he chooses to be ornate, he's never ostentatious. His improvisations are witty, graceful and involved, but never self-involved to the point of excluding the listener. Definitely one of the finer solo jazz piano CD's I've heard. I have no idea why this man is not more well known than he is. The CD does contain one short track, "Kasbah Kids," which is a bit irritating, but it's supposed to sound like kids playing, and kids irritate me, so maybe it's successful on that level! In addition to this, the final track, "Sahel" with its spoken word interludes between the piano explorations, may sound a little bit dated to some people, though it doesn't sound that way to me. Do not let these minor criticisms stop you from enjoying this very fine record by a musician who definitely deserves to be more well known."