There’s an organization here in Philly that sends out a newsletter Thursday mornings with discounts on upcoming cultural events – usually very upcoming, as in “tickets ain’t selling, maybe we can fill some seats tomorrow night if we offer half off.” This week, one of the offers was for a local jazz club, who had some dude named Randy Weston, with the following description:
Well, that sounded cool – so I asked a friend of mine (who actually enjoys the African and jazz stuff I listen to, which many – okay, most – of my friends do not) if he wanted to check it out – bingo, we’re on.
Now, I am undoubtedly betraying some serious ignorance here, but I had never, ever heard of this guy, though apparently he’s been around since the '40s.
Wow.
Wow wow wow.
Seriously groovy stuff, cats and kittens.
If you get a chance to go see him live – esp. in an intimate little club – GO. Pay full price, if you’ve got to, but go. He’s amazing, and the bass player is definitely the real deal. The drummer was merely “very good.”
I saw this trio (with an extra player or two) at Penn State in 2000 or 2001 and also found it excellent. Weston does great covers of Ellington and Monk tunes as well as some smashing originals. Alex Blake is a bit too “slappy” a bassist for some tastes (my concertgoing companions prefer a more melodic bass and were a bit turned off), but I liked him fine.
Weston is a major player. Most of the major players have died, and nearly all are quite old. Go see them all while you still can.