From: ** myrna ** (medea_13_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 2003-01-17 15:47:09
wow. that was a wonderful! thank you for your words.
i'm sure a lot of people on this list can agree that passion about music
(and life) is one of the greatest things a person can share with others.
thank you for your words. certainly made my morning.
myrna
>From: Nathaniel Rahav <nat_at_rhythmlove.com>
>To: <acid-jazz_at_ucsd.edu>
>Subject: [acid-jazz] Randy Weston
>Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 03:01:05 -0500 (EST)
>
>
>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
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