Portrait of Randy Weston

Finishing up the second part of this week's feature on Randy Weston, I thought I would post a more recent version of "Portrait of Frank Edward Weston" that Weston and his African Rhythms Trio recorded for an album titled Zep Tepi that was unfortunately only release in CD format. Another version of the track was released on vinyl as part of the excellent compilation series titled Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions. One of the many fascinating things I came across while researching Weston's music career was that after the pianist's 1967 tour of Africa, he decided to establish a jazz nightclub in Morocco called the African Rhythms Club. Weston ran the nightclub for six years from 1967 to 1972 while studying African music. His time running the nightclub and studying in Morocco truly had a huge influence on his own music going forward and has since helped lead him into becoming one of the pioneers of African jazz music. I'm sure when he performs this Saturday night at Stanford University as part of the Stanford Jazz Festival, it will almost be worth taking notes. I usually don't do two-part features on this site, however I thought I would make an exception because I thought it was important to pay tribute to a musician who has been one of the most pivotal players in the history of African jazz. I'm very much looking forward to Saturday night's performance, as it will be such an invaluable experience to have a legend like Randy Weston performing before me. Enjoy your weekend!

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Randy Weston - Portrait of Frank Edward Weston