Randy Weston is a noted pianist and composer currently residing in New York. He got started in the 1950′s with many of the jazz greats and counts Thelonius Monk as his greatest piano influence. During the 60s he moved to Morocco and toured through Africa learning about the local music. Currently he performs with his group African Rhythms and is on tour in Europe.
From his web site bio:
After contributing six decades of musical direction and genius, Randy Weston remains one of the world’s foremost pianists and composers today, a true innovator and visionary.
Encompassing the vast rhythmic heritage of Africa,
his global creations musically continue to inform and inspire.
“Weston has the biggest sound of any jazz pianist since Ellington and Monk, as well as the richest most inventive beat,” states jazz critic Stanley Crouch, “but his art is more than projection and time; it’s the result of a studious and inspired intelligence…an intelligence that is creating a fresh synthesis of African elements with jazz technique”.
Listen to Randy chat about his music and current projects on KCSM radio.