"Randy Weston, an esteemed pianist whose music and scholarship advanced the argument — now broadly accepted — that jazz is, at its core, an African music, died at his home in Brooklyn on Saturday. He was 92.
His death was confirmed by his lawyer, Gail Boyd, who said the exact cause was still being determined.
On his earliest recordings in the mid-1950s, Mr. Weston almost fit the profile of a standard bebop musician: He recorded jazz standards and galloping original tunes in a typical, small-group format. But his sharply cut harmonies and intense, gnarled rhythms conveyed a manifestly Afrocentric sensibility, one that was slightly more barbed and rugged than the popular hard-bop sound of the day..." (Full NYT obit on line)
- New York Times today.
This was breaking last night but at that point unconfirmed. Sad to see him go but he had such a full life and was playing up until the end. A lot of glowing tributes to the man himself and his personality from those who met, played, recorded and interviewed him.
BN.
His death was confirmed by his lawyer, Gail Boyd, who said the exact cause was still being determined.
On his earliest recordings in the mid-1950s, Mr. Weston almost fit the profile of a standard bebop musician: He recorded jazz standards and galloping original tunes in a typical, small-group format. But his sharply cut harmonies and intense, gnarled rhythms conveyed a manifestly Afrocentric sensibility, one that was slightly more barbed and rugged than the popular hard-bop sound of the day..." (Full NYT obit on line)
- New York Times today.
This was breaking last night but at that point unconfirmed. Sad to see him go but he had such a full life and was playing up until the end. A lot of glowing tributes to the man himself and his personality from those who met, played, recorded and interviewed him.
BN.
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