Mondo Jazz

RANDY WESTON R.I.P

Jazz pianist Randy Weston left us this morning at age 92. Weston was the ultimate individualist whether at the keyboard (where he was a Monk disciple before almost anyone else) or when moving his jazz career from NY to North Africa. An irreplaceable artist & inspiring role model.

Ted Gioia

Randy Weston, a pianist and composer who devoted more than half a century to the exploration of jazz's deep connection with Africa, died on Saturday at his home in Brooklyn. He was 92.

His death was announced by his wife and business partner, Fatoumata Weston.

Over the course of an extraordinarily long and distinguished career, Weston carried on the pianistic and composerly tradition of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk before him. But he was steadfast in a specific sense of mission: he regarded jazz as an extension of African music, from its foundational essence to its living expression. He made this argument not only in eloquent conversation but also in powerful musical terms, often in recent years with his band African Rhythms.

An imposingly tall but soft-spoken man, Weston embodied the connections he espoused. His touch at the piano was emphatically percussive, but also elegant, resonant and clear. He worked with a sophisticated harmonic language often shaded in blue, and in his compositions - like "Hi-Fly" and "Little Niles," which have become standards - he drew an unmistakable line from the African continent to the swinging verities of hard-bop and other strains of modern jazz.

Nate Chinen