Randy Weston: The Complete Recordings 1958-1960 (3 CDS) ENLIGHTENMENT

Weston would mark the turn of the 1950s with what would be two of his finest and most acclaimed works. First came the late 1950s masterpiece Little Niles, the title track of which was named after one of Weston’s sons and would become one of his best known tunes, having already featured on a number of his live records. Then followed the groundbreaking Uhuru Afrika, an ambitious combination of jazz and African rhythms with a 24-piece band; this would also mark his first album with trombonist, arranger and long-time collaborator Melba Liston. Outrageously, Uhuru Afrika would be banned in South Africa in 1964, an “honour” shared with the likes of Max Roach’s We Insist! And Lena Horne’s Here’s Lena Now!. Weston would become increasingly interested in African music as his career developed, travelling there with a U.S. cultural delegation in 1967 and settling permanently in Morocco at the end of the tour. He would run the African Rhythms Club in Tangier until 1972, the same year he produced his most commercially successful album Blue Moses, on which he played exclusively electric keyboard. Over the following decades, Weston maintained a constant flow of new material, including the double album The Spirits of Our Ancestors, a collaboration with Melba Liston which also witnessed appearances from Dizzy Gillespie, Pharaoh Saunders and many local Moroccan musicians. Having now dedicated more than six decades to jazz, Randy Weston remains active to this day, touring worldwide and recording new music. His most recent album, The Roots of the Blues, was released in 2013, and he received the JJA Jazz Awards “Lifetime Achievement in Jazz” prize in 2015, just one of a staggering list of accolades that includes a personal honour from King Mohammed VI of Morocco in 2011 for his services towards the local musical heritage.

Disc: 1
1. Announcement by Allan Morrison
2. Hi – Fly
3. Bantu Suite
4. Beef Blues Stew
5. Machine Blues
6. Earth Birth
7. Nobody Knows The Troubles I’ve Seen
8. Saucer Eyes
9. I Got Rhythm
10. Gingerbread
11. Cocktails for Two
12. Honeysuckle Rose
13. Fe – Double

Disc: 2
1. Earth Birth
2. Little Susan
3. Nice Ice
4. Little Niles
5. Pam’s Waltz
6. Babe’s Blues
7. Let’s Climb A Hill
8. We’re Ladies
9. I Know Your Kind
10. Rose Lovejoy of Paradise Alley
11. Anyone Would Love You
12. Once Knew a Fella
13. Every Once In A While
14. Fair Warning
15. Are You Ready Gyp Watson
16. That Ring on the Finger
17. Once Knew A Fella (Reprise)
18. I Say Hello

Disc: 3
1. Hi – Fly
2. Beef Blues Stew
3. Where
4. Spot Five Blues
5. Star Crossed Lovers
6. Lisa Lovely
7. Introduction: Uhuru Kwanza
8. First Movement: Uhuru Kwanza
9. Second Movement: African Lady
10. Third Movement: Bantu
11. Fourth Movement: Kucheza Blues