Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer. His creative work was influenced by his African heritage.

Weston’s piano style was shaped by the music of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. He mentioned them in a 2018 video as important influences, along with Count Basie, Nat King Cole, and Earl Hines. Starting in the 1950s, Weston frequently performed with trombonist and arranger Melba Liston.

Known as "America’s African Musical Ambassador," Weston once said, "What I do is about teaching and sharing information about our most natural cultural phenomenon. It is really about Africa and her music."

Biography

Randolph Edward Weston was born on April 6, 1926, to Vivian (née Moore) and Frank Weston. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where his father owned a restaurant. His mother was from Virginia, and his father had Jamaican and Panamanian heritage. His father was a strong supporter of Garvey’s ideas and taught his son the importance of self-reliance. Weston studied classical piano as a child and took dance lessons. He graduated from Boys High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant because his father believed the school had high standards. He took piano lessons from Professor Atwell, who let him play songs outside the classical music tradition, unlike his previous teacher, Mrs. Lucy Chapman.

Weston was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II and served for three years, starting in 1944. He reached the rank of staff sergeant and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, for a year. After returning to Brooklyn, he managed his father’s restaurant, which many jazz musicians visited. His piano influences included Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, and his cousin Wynton Kelly. However, Thelonious Monk had the greatest influence on him. In a 2003 interview, Weston said, “When I first heard Monk, I fell in love with his sound. I spent three years spending time with him, learning from him.”

In the late 1940s, Weston performed with Bull Moose Jackson, Frank Culley, and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson. In 1951, he moved to Lenox, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires, to avoid the drug culture in New York’s jazz scene. At the Music Inn, where jazz historian Marshall Stearns taught, Weston learned about the African roots of jazz. He returned to perform there each summer and wrote “Berkshire Blues.” He met artists and thinkers like Geoffrey Holder, Babatunde Olatunji, Langston Hughes, and Willis James. He said, “At Music Inn, I learned about the African-American experience in a global way, which was unusual at the time.”

Weston worked with Kenny Dorham in 1953 and with Cecil Payne in 1954. He later formed his own trio and quartet and released his first recording as a leader in 1954, Cole Porter in a Modern Mood. He was named New Star Pianist in DownBeat magazine’s 1955 poll. His later albums included Little Niles, dedicated to his children, with all songs written in 3/4 time. Melba Liston, who played trombone on the record, arranged pieces for a sextet, including the title track, “Earth Birth,” “Babe’s Blues,” and “Pam’s Waltz.”

In the 1960s, Weston’s music included African elements, as seen in Uhuru Afrika (1960) and Highlife (1963). Uhuru Afrika, or Freedom Africa, celebrated new African nations gaining independence. Highlife combined Caribbean and jazz styles within a Highlife format. Weston traveled to Africa in 1961 as part of a U.S. cultural exchange program to Lagos, Nigeria, with Langston Hughes, Lionel Hampton, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Nina Simone, and Brock Peters. He worked with Melba Liston on both albums.

During this time, his band often included tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin. He recorded Bobby Benson’s “Niger Mambo,” which mixed Caribbean and jazz elements in a Highlife style, and performed it many times.

In 1967, Weston traveled across Africa with a U.S. cultural delegation. He settled in Morocco, running the African Rhythms Club in Tangier from 1967 to 1972. He said in a 2015 interview, “We had everything from Chicago blues singers to singers from the Congo. The idea was to find African people everywhere and see how they use music.”

In 1972, he produced Blue Moses for CTI Records, a best-selling album where he played electric keyboard. He said, “I wasn’t happy with the electric piano, but it was my only hit record.” In 1975, he performed at the Festival of Tabarka in Tunisia with his son Azzedin Weston on percussion, alongside Dizzy Gillespie.

In 1977, he participated in FESTAC, the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, in Lagos, Nigeria. Other artists included Osibisa, Miriam Makeba, Bembeya Jazz, Louis Moholo, Dudu Pukwana, Donald Byrd, Stevie Wonder, and Sun Ra.

For many years, Weston recorded less frequently on smaller labels. He released The Spirits of Our Ancestors (1991–1992), featuring arrangements by Melba Liston and guest artists like Dizzy Gillespie and Pharoah Sanders. The album was praised for exploring “world jazz.”

Weston made music in many formats, including solo, trio, mid-sized groups, and collaborations with Moroccan Gnawa musicians. His popular compositions include “Hi-Fly,” “Little Niles,” “African Sunrise,” “Blue Moses,” “The Healers,” and “Berkshire Blues.” His music was often recorded by artists like Abdullah Ibrahim, Houston Person, and Booker Ervin.

A five-night celebration of Weston’s music took place at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 1995, featuring Gnawa musicians and a duet with saxophonist David Murray.

In 2002, Weston performed with bassist James Lewis at the inauguration of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt. That same year, he played with Gnawa musicians at Canterbury Cathedral in England. In 2008, he performed at the Kamigamo Shrine in Japan.

On June 21, 2009, he participated in a memorial for Ghanaian drummer Kofi Ghanaba (formerly Guy Warren) at the Jazz Gallery in New York, using Ghanaba’s composition “Love, the Mystery of…” as his theme for 40 years.

In 2013, Sunnyside released The Roots of the Blues, a duo recording with saxophonist Billy Harper. In 2014, Weston performed a duo concert with Harper at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, where critics praised their musical connection.

In 2015, Weston was artist-in-residence at The New School in New York, where he participated in lectures and workshops.

Personal life

Weston's first marriage to Mildred Mosley ended in divorce. His son, Azzedin, died before him. After his death, Weston was survived by his wife, Fatoumata Mbengue-Weston, whom he met in 1994. He also had three daughters: Cheryl, Pamela, and Kim. Additionally, he was survived by seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

Autobiography

In October 2010, Duke University Press published African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston, written by Randy Weston and arranged by Willard Jenkins. The book was praised as an important addition to the study of jazz history and a much-anticipated read for fans of Randy Weston, a major figure in African American music. Reviewer Larry Reni Thomas wrote that the autobiography is a valuable and refreshing work. He described it as a journey from America to Africa and back, written with ease and enthusiasm. The book is engaging and hard to put down, and he suggested it should be required reading in history or literature classes.

Archives

In 2015–16, Weston's archives were collected by the Jazz Research Initiative, working with the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Loeb Music Library, Harvard College Library, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The Randy Weston Collection includes hundreds of manuscripts, scores, videos, films, photographs, and more than 1,000 tape recordings. Important items in the collection are letters exchanged with Langston Hughes and Alvin Ailey, photographs with Dizzy Gillespie, Pharoah Sanders, Muhammad Ali, and Cornel West, and records from Weston's African Rhythms Club in Tangier, Morocco, between 1967 and 1972.

Awards and honors

• 1997: Order of Arts and Letters, France
• 1999: Swing Journal Award, Japan
• 2000: Black Star Award, Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ACRAG)
• 2001: NEA Jazz Master
• 2006: Honorary degree from Brooklyn College, City University of New York
• 2009: Giants of Jazz concert in his honor with Monty Alexander, Geri Allen, Cyrus Chestnut, Barry Harris, Mulgrew Miller, and Billy Taylor
• 2011: Guggenheim Fellowship award
• 2011: Honored by King Mohammed VI of Morocco for his lifelong work with Morocco and for helping the world learn about Morocco's Gnaoua music tradition
• 2011: Honored by Congressional Black Caucus Foundation at the Jazz Issue Forum and Concert during the 40th Annual Legislative Conference
• 2012: Honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Colby College
• 2013: Honorary degree from New England Conservatory of Music
• 2014: Doris Duke Artist Award
• 2014: JJA Jazz Award, Trio or Duo of the Year: Randy Weston – Billy Harper
• 2015: JJA Jazz Award, Lifetime Achievement in Jazz
• 2016: Malcolm X Black Unity award, National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO) with the International African Arts Festival (IAAF)
• 2016: DownBeat Hall of Fame
• 2016: United States Artists Fellowship Award
• 2017: National Jazz Museum in Harlem Legends Award

Discography

• 1954: Cole Porter in a Modern Mood (Riverside) – 10-inch LP
• 1955: The Randy Weston Trio (Riverside) – 10-inch LP
• 1955: Get Happy with the Randy Weston Trio (Riverside)
• 1956: With These Hands… (Riverside)
• 1955–56: Trio and Solo (Riverside) – includes all tracks on The Randy Weston Trio
• 1956: Jazz à la Bohemia (Riverside)
• 1956: The Modern Art of Jazz by Randy Weston (Dawn) – also released as How High the Moon (Biograph)
• 1957: Piano á la Mode (Jubilee)
• 1958: New Faces at Newport (MetroJazz)
• 1959: Little Niles (United Artists)
• 1959: Destry Rides Again (United Artists)
• 1959: Live at the Five Spot (United Artists)
• 1960: Uhuru Afrika (Roulette)
• 1963: Highlife (Colpix)
• 1964: Randy (Bakton) – later released as African Cookbook (Atlantic) in 1972
• 1965: Berkshire Blues (Freedom [1977])
• 1964–65: Blues (Trip)
• 1966: Monterey '66 (Verve)
• 1969: African Cookbook (Polydor)
• 1969: Niles Littlebig (Polydor)
• 1972: Blue Moses (CTI)
• 1973: Tanjah (Polydor)
• 1974: Carnival (Freedom)
• 1974: Informal Solo Piano (Hi-Fly)
• 1975: Blues to Africa (Freedom)
• 1975: African Nite (Owl)
• 1975: African Rhythms (Chant du Monde)
• 1976: Randy Weston Meets Himself (Pausa)
• 1976: Perspective (Denon)
• 1978: Rhythms-Sounds Piano (Cora)
• 1984: Blue (Arch)
• 1987: The Healers (Black Saint) – with David Murray
• 1989: Portraits of Thelonious Monk: Well You Needn't (Verve)
• 1989: Portraits of Duke Ellington: Caravan (Verve)
• 1989: Self Portraits: The Last Day (Verve)
• 1991: The Spirits of Our Ancestors (Verve)
• 1992: Marrakech in the Cool of the Evening (Verve/Gitanes)
• 1992: The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco (Verve/Gitanes)
• 1993: Volcano Blues (Verve/Gitanes)
• 1995: Saga (Verve)
• 1997: Earth Birth [featuring Montreal String Orchestra] (Verve)
• 1998: Khepera (Verve)
• 1999: Spirit! The Power of Music (Arkadia Jazz)
• 2002: Ancient Future (Mutable)
• 2003: Live In St. Lucia (image ID-3007RW)
• 2004: Nuit Africa (Enja)
• 2006: Zep Tepi (Random Chance)
• 2009: The Storyteller (Motéma)
• 2013: The Roots of the Blues (Sunnyside)
• 2017: The African Nubian Suite (African Rhythms)
• 2018: Sound — Solo Piano (African Rhythms)

• Duet in Detroit (Enja, 1984 [1993])

• Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert (Columbia, 1972)