From: Nathaniel Rahav (nat_at_rhythmlove.com)
Date: 2003-01-17 09:01:05
Dear List,
I just came back from a phenomenal show: Randy Weston and his African
Rhythms Sextet.
Living in a world of recorded music, where often times the live music I
hear is recorded music re-interpreted, going to a show like this really
restores one's faith that there is NOTHING like a group of ridiculously
talented musicians sharing the same wavelength at the same place in time and space.
It truly makes one aware of the unifying element of all human endeavor...
the yearning to be free.
I dont want to ramble on about the dynamics of music and its relation to
metaphysical concerns. What I wanted to say was that this group of
musicians, under the umbrella of Mr. Weston, really really laid it down in
a way that opened up many channels.
Randy started the first set with a familiar sounding piano groove,
something that maybe Jelly Roll mighta written, and mighta been filtered
a la mingus. It was that kinda old style, big bandy, gospel sounding
jazz, a real rootsy affair. The musicians joined in one by one - a
trombonist (elderly man in an african suit), saxomophone (young hip cat),
a bassist (kinda short, very skinny, somewhat nondescript, middle aged),
percussion player (equipped with 3 congas, a djembe, and bangles baubles
and beads), and finally, the one who would really steal the show, a violin
player (young african american woman with dreads on the top of her head
and shaved all around the sides)... I will list their names later on.
Anyway, they moved from this old style jelly roll style rag/blues to some
hard-bop / fast paced blazing jazz, all within the course of a couple of
bars. it was almost as if they were giving a nod to everything that
happened until now, and letting us know that re-creating that was not the
primary concern. Rather, we were in for a treat... an exploration of sound
that involved charting through deep waters and original thought.
Weston's playing was bigger than I could imagine. I never had a chance to
see Duke, but I could see his echoes in Randy Weston. It wasnt so much
what he was playing, it was the tone - the chords he used to fill the
room, and the mood and pace that he set with his playing. He is a big man,
physically, musically, and as I soon understood, spiritually. This was
made apparent to me during the break between sets. On his way to the bar,
I passed him, and told him that I had really enjoyed the music. That I
came to him from his recordings, that I had dug from the annals of jazz
recording such masterworks as Blue Moses and African Cookbook, and that it
was out of my appreciation of those recordings that I came to see him
today. He was happy to hear that, and happy to see some "young people"
coming out to hear the music. It wasnt so much what he said, it was how he
said it. One could feel the depth of his intention, the openness of his
soul. Then he said, it's so important to know and understand what those
before us have done. Say word. Be it our ancestors or the generation
above, everything we do now is the cumulative sum of everything before.
And therefore, the more we understand about the past, the better we can
assess, and progress, humanity, musicality, tonality, singularity.
Several things about the performance made it outstanding, aside from the
overtly "good" music. For one, there was no trap kit. Only african drums.
But the drummer had not only an excellent grasp over african and afrocuban
rhythms, he had them fully substituting the swing/jazz drumming pattern,
illustrating the connection between jazz drumming and african rhythm.
Another thing was their freedom to explore, and more particularly, the
frequent emphasis they placed on modal/tonal scales and the polyrhythmic
polyphonic microtonic structure of North African music.
And then there was the violin player. She was Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. I
mean, I was in tears after her first real solo. She not only had the
sickest jazz chops, she had the gypsy style violin playing mastered. And
she toyed with her instrument like it was a magicians prop. She played
fast and furious, slow and emotional, she plucked the strings, she bounced
the bow off the strings. She even snapped a bunch of the hairs on the bow
she was playing so hard at one point. And it was all on point.
Now, if I thought I was blown away by that, wait till the bassist got
busy. He took that bass and made it as malleable as a crazy straw. His
finger work was beyond imagination, so fast. But he went beyond that - he
brought his solos to higher levels with augmented chords, and fast
strumming of all the strings as if the standup bass was like a guitar!! It
was truly a miracle, to see this guy play.
So, in conclusion, if Randy Weston comes to your town, I recommend,
highly, that you go and see him. And if you dont know his records, I
definitely recommend the two that I have had the luck to hear: Blue Moses
and African Cookbook.
Here are the personell for the show I saw:
Randy Weston African Rhythms Sextet featuring Regina Carter
Randy Weston (piano,leader), Regina Carter (violin),TK Blue (sax, flute,
musical director), Benny Powell (trombone) Alex Blake (bass) Neil Clarke
(African Percussion)
Peace,
Nat