Lou Levy - The RCA Recordings

© -  Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.

Because of his long associations with female Jazz vocalists such as Peggy Lee [circa 1955-75], Ella Fitzgerald [1957-1962] and later stints with Anita O’Day and Nancy, Lou Levy is sometimes referred to as “... a fleet-fingered bop pianist known principally as an accompanist.” [Andre Barbera writing in The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Barry Kernfeld, ed.

But the broader view might see Lou as having had a parallel career as a member of many instrumental groups led by Shorty Rogers, Stan Getz, Terry Gibbs and Med Flory and Supersax, not to mention, countless recordings on which he appeared as a sideman.

Perhaps the gigs by the accompanist Levy made possible the “comforts of home” while the instrumental Jazz jobs provided “food for the soul?”

Thankfully, along the way, Lou made a number of recordings to help document his contributions to Jazz. These began early in his career thanks to Shorty Rogers. [Lou held down the piano chair in Shorty’s quintet the Giants for many years.]

One of the first things Shorty Rogers did when he joined in the mid 1950s RCA as its Artists & Repertoire man for Jazz on the Left Coast was to contract with pianist Lou Levy to do three LPs for the label. Fittingly, in order that we might hear the Levy piano style unencumbered, Lou opted to do the first one for RCA as as a solo piano album.

Pianist Andre Previn, who due to his work in Hollywood films was resident in Hollywood for most of the 1950s, did the honors for the liner notes to Solo Scene Lou Levy, Pianist [RCA 74321665052 1956]

“The sides in this album fill a gap long overdue in today's recorded modern jazz. This is quite a statement, considering the hundreds of albums currently available, but then Lou Levy is quite a musician. Long an established and highly respected pianist among his fellow musicians, he has been woefully neglected by the public and even by jazz fans, who have considered him only as a valuable man to have around in a rhythm section.

The eleven tracks which comprise Solo Scene will hopefully change this attitude, for here is Lou proving himself as an imaginative, powerful soloist. There have always been pianists who sound perfectly fine within the safe confines of a rhythm section but who suddenly reveal their shortcomings when sitting alone at the piano; not so with the gifted Mr. Levy who for his recording premiere, disdains any and all help from other instruments, and tackles eleven standards in solitary splendor, thus following the small and select company of musicians who make up the category "Solo Pianists."

Lou was born in Chicago in 1928. His father played piano by ear so Lou's interest in jazz was immediate, and his flair for it undeniable; by the time he was eighteen he was accompanying Sarah Vaughan, having already put in a short spell with Georgie Auld's band in the company of Tiny Kahn, Red Rodney. Curly Russell and Serge Chaloff. He next joined Chubby Jackson's band and became one of the first jazzmen of the modern school to play Europe. During '48 and '49 he was a mainstay of the great Woody Herman Second Herd (the famous Four Brothers band ) and was well on his way to becoming the favorite pianist of many modern musicians.

In 1952, tired of the road and the scuffle that goes with it, he deprived the music business of his presence and went into the publishing field. However, it has never been possible to keep as natural and accomplished a musician as Lou away from his chosen instrument for too long a time, and in '54 he capitulated and opened at Frank Holzfeind’s Blue Note in Chicago, playing solo intermission piano. And there the story of this album actually started. Woody's band was booked into the club, and suddenly the sidemen were paying Lou one of the great musicians' compliments: they were using their intermissions to sit around the stand, listening closely and passing the word around that Lou was back and in great form. On the last Sunday of their engagement. Al Porcino, the wonderful trumpet player, lugged in his tape recorder and took down some fifteen or twenty of Lou's solo efforts. These tapes soon achieved almost a legendary status. Musicians all over the country heard them, some had them copied, others remembered them in detail, and "Hey, did you hear those Blue Note Lou Levy tapes?" became the opening gambit of many a jazz discussion. In the meantime, Lou moved out to Los Angeles and began gigging around: with Conte Candoli, Stan Getz and Shorty Rogers, on record dates and one-nighters. He was almost willing to forget about his status as a solo pianist, but his many friends were not; and finally, after much prodding, RCA Victor snared him into their recording studios. Characteristically, it then took Lou only two fast sessions to cut the album and make some extra sides as well; more often than not the first take was the final one.

Side One opens with a forgotten song from "The Wizard of Oz". called Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead. Taken at a breakneck pace and played for bravura effect, it shows off Lou's technique and his unfailing sense of time.

Lullaby of the Leaves has a tender introduction and a lovely, moody statement of the theme. Here, as in many of the sides. Lou shows his love for the Impressionist School, making large use of the whole-tone progressions so dear to the music of that genre.

Making Whoopee, which follows, has a fine, down-home feel to it. The gamut is run here, with no disdain shown for occasional stride piano, a quick interpolation of 3/4, and a funky ending.

It Ain't Necessarily So, from "Porgy and Bess", is again complete with tempo changes, variation in dynamics, and an occasional romanticism that belies the original lyric.

Violets for Your Furs is perhaps the best ballad playing of the album. Lou plays the Matt Dennis verse (a great habit), and there is an interesting polytonal coda.

The side ends with another virtuoso display: Harold Arlen's Get Happy. A grandiose statement of the tune leads into several fast jazz choruses, and the ascending key changes are worth listening for.

The opener on Side Two is That Old Black Magic, taken at an uptempo. Lou sets a pattern in the introduction which carries over into the first chorus. Some fascinating rhythmic shifts occur during the second 32 bars.

I'll Take Romance is again Debussy-esque. played in 3/4, and full of Lou's favorite device, a series of rapid ninth chords. The second chorus settles into a slow 4/4 and there is a lovely afterthought ending.

Nice Work If You Can Get It has some humorous interchanges of ad lib and straight tempo, and a surprising, fast jazz coda.

Black Coffee is a great accomplishment in construction. Reflective and funky in turn, it uses the entire range of the keyboard to make its point.

The closing number is Irving Berlin's Cheek to Cheek, which shows off Lou's versatility. It has wonderful good-naturedness, some driving jazz and a piquant dissonance for the good-bye.

Although this is essentially a jazz album, it will be appreciated by more than the jazz coterie of fans. The tunes are always recognizable, and the piano playing displayed is the perfect relaxed "party piano". There is always a great sense of assurance, of playing on a large scale; there is intensity, humor, reflection and showmanship. When the time comes for Lou Levy to decide to really strike out as a soloist, a lot of already firmly established pianists will have to put in extra hours to keep their places secure.”

• ANDRE PREVIN Radio Corporation of America. 1956

For the his second offering on RCA, Lou turned to a quartet format with Larry on vibes. Stan Levey is on drums for both the quartet and Leroy Vinnegar on bass.

Entitled Jazz in Four Colors/Lou Levy Quartet [RCA ND 74401], here are Shorty and Lou’s comments about the album:

“In planning this album, Lou and I spent much time trying to figure out a "different" instrumentation. This was no small problem in face of the fact that so many albums are being made today. While trying to figure out an instrumentation Lou went to work on a job that enabled him to renew one of his favorite musical acquaintances: Larry Bunker on vibes. Lou and Larry enjoyed playing together and made a wonderful nucleus for a quartet. This also presented the possibility of forming a group that could record and appear in public.

This album could be called "the birth of the Lou Levy Quartet." and I must say that it was a privilege and a great thrill to be a witness to the birth of this swingin', tasty, musical baby.

Here to tell you about the album is Lou Levy I the proud father.”

SHORTY ROGERS

“Through working in various bands. I found the men who had just what I wanted for this album. Creativeness, plus down-home musical authority . . . namely, Larry Bunker, Stan Levey, and Leroy Vinnegar.

Stan was my first acquaintance. I met him in Boyd Raeburn's band, Galveston, Texas, around '47. The band included Maynard Ferguson on his first job in the States. Stan had been playing with "Diz" and "The Bird" all through the '40s and the experience really showed in his playing. He did everything great. That was the only job I've ever worked with Stan, but that experience, and hearing Stan lately, sold me on him.

Larry was next. We worked a very short time together in Georgie Auld's Quartet four years back, at which time Larry played drums and vibes: then came a job a year back with Barney Kessel, where I really found out about Larry's vibes. He played only vibes on the job and swung all the time. Larry and I now both work with Peggy Lee, so that's three jobs together.

Leroy and I are from the Midwest, but didn't meet until a year ago in Hollywood. Conte Candoli introduced us on the bandstand at Jazz City, and a few months later we worked a short engagement together at Zardi's in a wonderful quintet led by Stan Getz . . . also including Conte and Shelly Manne. Other than a half dozen albums, that was the only time I worked with Leroy. He is a thrill to work with, and anyone who has worked with him will bear me out. His time is perfect and he never stops swinging.

Since Stan works at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach. Leroy works with Shelley Marine's group, and Larry and I are with Peggy Lee — it was evident that we wouldn't have time to rehearse before the session — that all music on the date would be "new" to us. So. in two dates — March 31st and April 4th — we worked out, rehearsed and recorded ten tunes, as follows:

TUNE UP — A Miles Davis original with unique chord changes that present an interesting challenge to any soloist. Larry and I play two choruses each. We then split the 32-bar chorus into four 8-bar sections played by Larry, Stan, myself and Leroy. in that order. The next chorus is split into eight 4-bar sections. The final chorus is melody followed by a fade ending in which Larry plays a real interesting ascending line.

WITHOUT YOU - This was an Andy Russell number in Walt Disney’s "Make Mine Music." It is also a very unusual tune in chord structure but everyone seems right at home on this. There is a bass pickup into the first chorus. I play one and Larry and Leroy split one before the out chorus.

WAIL STREET - This is Barney Kessel's original. Built in D minor, it employs cycles of fifths in excellent taste. After the piano intro. the tune rolls right through the melody chorus into Larry’s two choruses.  Larry's solo is definitely one of the brightest spot in the album. All his imagination and swing really show here. I take two choruses: the ensemble and Stan exchange four bars: we walk the bridge and finish up with an extended ending featuring Larry.

STAR EYES — The drums and intro. in general, present a mild Latin flavor that is maintained throughout most of the melody passages. This is eliminated for all the jazz solos This tune is another example of how great Stan and Leroy sound on a "groove" tempo. They make it a pleasure at all times. The routine on the introduction is reversed and used as an ending.

THE LADY IS A TRAMP - This number completes the first side and is done by the trio minus the vibes. I had played this arrangement before on local trio jobs. After the first chorus, there are three piano choruses building up to one chorus of "walking" and one chorus out with an extended ending that has a slight flavor of "ragtime."

THE GRAY FOX — This is an up-tempo original. There's an eight-bar piano intro, followed by the first ensemble chorus and an extension and break leading into Larry's two choruses. The piano solo of two choruses is introduced by an interlude and break. Then a chorus is split between Stan and Leroy. The piano intro is repeated and into the out chorus with an extended ending. I'm very happy with this tune as it shows the effort made to have an organized interesting date.

BUTTON UP YOUR OVERCOAT - One chorus of ensemble into one for Larry. I do a chorus and a half, and Leroy has the bridge. We finish out with an extended ending. This is another "groove" for Leroy and Stan.

IMAGINATION - Here is a display of Larry's great sensitivity on vibes. To get so much from this instrument is a rarity. Except for the second bridge, it's all Larry.

GAL IN CALICO — We used a simple introduction and open fourth voicing throughout the ensemble section. There are suggestions of western music, especially in the intro and ending. Larry and I get two choruses each, and Leroy and Stan split a chorus of fours. As a curious note, this was the only number that required more than two takes. But we're happy with the results.

INDIANA — The final tune on the date. Trio only. Shorty suggested doing the first chorus ad-lib, the manner in which I handled most of the tunes for The Solo Scene (RCA Victor LPM-1267) album. There is abundance of chord alterations, but this tune has been recorded frequently, so a new flavor was in order. The tune is not breakneck tempo, but pretty well up. Three piano choruses lead into a wonderfully organized chorus of drums. The out chorus is followed by a B.G.-type tag ending. [“B.G.” = Benny Goodman]

Without getting too flowery, I'd like to say that I'm more than happy with the performances of the men individually, as well as collectively. After doing this date. I was all the more sure that someday soon I would take this group on the road. It may not be possible to get the same men, but if I come close, that's great.

To Shorty Rogers, who sat in the booth through all the recording, a large share of credit is due. If I'm the "Proud Papa," let's make Shorty "Godfather."

LOU LEVY

In 1957, Lou selected a trio format with Max Bennett on bass and Stan Levey on drums when he recorded A Most Musical Fella: The Lou Levy Trio [RCA 74321665052] for which he wrote the following liner notes.

In planning this album, intentions were to do it with three difFerent groups, with the first four tunes to be done by a trio. But after the first date we were so happy with the results that it was decided to make the whole thing with the trio. There is no doubt that the personnel on this album was the deciding factor. The trio jelled too well to do anything but a complete trio album.

Side one opens with Night and Day. Stan starts it by playing the pattern of the verse melody on a cymbal. It sounded so good that this was a natural for a starter. The arrangement is rather bright and features an opening chorus alternating between a Latin and swing feel.

Angel Eyes, Matt Dennis' lovely tune, is treated as we believe he intended — very delicately from the introduction into one and a half choruses. The second bridge has a double-time feel but this is not intended to be jazzy; it felt natural and sounded good to all of us.

Lou's Blues is a very simple original done mainly to satisfy the desire to relax and play the blues. After having to play somewhat involved arrangements, the blues is always a ball.

Yesterdays gave me a chance to play solo piano, at least the first chorus. The second chorus is in tempo and is what I'd call a natural rhythmic impression of the original tune.

Apartment 17 is my original, very bright and sixty-four bars long. It's the kind of tune that keeps you thinking, as it's always going somewhere.

The second side opens with How About You, a standard jazz tune that affords many opportunities for chord alterations moving under the melody. These fast moving progressions are. for the most part, dropped, although Max uses them to good advantage at the opening of the second chorus.

Baubles, Bangles and Beads, a wonderful tune from "Kismet" that was recorded so beautifully a few years back by one of my present employers. Peggy Lee. It is a tune that offers wonderful opportunities for improvising, although you'll notice that the largest portion of the melody was treated with deserved calm.

Woody 'n 'Lou is a bright original, based harmonically on Dizzy's RCA Victor recording of Algo Buena. The chromatic progression of this tune is the one used in How About You. I'll venture to say it's one of the most comfortable progressions for "blowing."

We'll Be Together Again is ad-lib solo piano until the second eight, and then in tempo until the end. The introduction is re-used as an ending. I'd like to add that this tune has great personal meaning to me, so I jumped at recording it.

The last tune on the date is I’ll Remember April and we only made one take. Personally. I got carried away and played quite a few choruses, but there was so much excitement during this take we knew we couldn't reach that point again.

What I'm going to say now is not directed at musicians or people that can evaluate music on their own; it's more for people with a love for music and a lack of knowledge concerning it.

The chord alterations and substitute progressions are added to modern jazz mainly for two reasons: to improve the accompaniment to the melody and to give the jazzman a more interesting cycle of chords to improvise with. I find that many songwriters find the approach most refreshing. In fact, I have yet to hear one speak against it.

I also think the public has been frequently misled as to what modern jazz really is. I've seen numerous TV shows with major personalities trying to define modern jazz. These people are not jazz musicians, so immediately this should disqualify them. If you really want to learn to appreciate modern jazz, listen to the people who play it and live with it. It offers mental and physical satisfaction, and if you're not getting that now. try again — because you're missing an awful lot.”

LOU LEVY

All three of these RCA recordings have been prepared for CD release by Jordi Pujol and can be purchased through the Fresh Sound website.

La Fiesta - Mike Barone Big Band

© -  Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

Impressions?

The first thing that comes to mind when I listen to Mike Barone’s big band arrangements is swinging textures [sonority is another word for textures].

By this I mean the overall sound of the music which is the first thing that hits us when we hear its melodic, harmonic and rhythmic components all blended together to form the texture or sonorty that is the music.

Whatever the texture, Mike’s music always swings. By way of comparison, Maria Schneider’s big band orchestrations have their own unique sonorites, but they don’t always swing.

Watching a video of the band playing through Mike’s charts [arrangements], you can see [and hear] a musical phrase being played by the first and fifth trumpets in combination with the second trombone and first alto and baritone sax. But then, the next phrase might involve a different combination of instruments either playing in unison or in harmony with one another.

But whatever the combination that Mike employs to create the sound of his arrangement, the music is constantly moving; metronomically progressing - in another words - swinging.

Countermelodies, arranged solo and shout choruses played in unison or harmonized, dynamics, unique voicings, interludes, riffs, key changes, tempo changes, interspersed solos, plenty of drum kicks and licks - it’s all here - masterfully and tastefully implemented by a superior composer-arranger who - like his mentor Bill Holman - should be considered a living national treasure.

By way of background, Mike Barone has had big bands on and off for the past 50 years. The first that gained notoriety performed at the world famous "Donte's Jazz Club" in North Hollywood CA every Wed. night from 1967 through 1969. Many jazz greats came through that band like Med Flory, Tom Scott, Bill Perkins and Mike Wofford. Even Ernie Watts and Joe Sample played in the band at times. The following years saw Mike write or perform with Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Johnny Hartman, Phil Collins, Dizzy Gillespie, Lalo Schifrin, Gerald Wilson, The Tonight Show Band, Quincy Jones, Hank Mancini, John Williams, Bill Conti, Maynard Ferguson, Oliver Nelson, Tower Of Power, Super Sax, Shelly Manne, Trombones Unlimited with Frank Rosolino, Louie Bellson, the Grammy's and the Academy Awards from 1987 thru 2005. Mike also did many TV shows and movies as well as composing and arranging over 100 stage band charts for schools.   The band at this time is made up of outstanding younger players and older "ringers" for a terrific combination and his greatest band ever. La Fiesta is the eighth album of the band released by Rhubarb Recordings.”

While reading through Steve Randisi’s interview with Mike in the September 2006 edition of Cadence Magazine, one gets the impression that Mike reformed his first big band by accident after putting his first one together almost 50 years ago:

S.R.: How did you happen to put a new band together, after returning to LA in 1997?

M.B.: I didn't come back to LA for that reason. I used to joke that when I turned 60, I'd come back to L.A. before everybody I know dies! I don't remember how I started to rehearse again, but Bill Perkins use to encourage me. Bill was a great saxophone player who died about a year ago [2003]. And then I found that people basically remembered me for my band. They'd say. "Mike, how's your band?" And I hadn't had a band in thirty years! What band?! Then, when I started rehearsing. I realized that today's players are better, especially the younger ones. They might not be the greatest Jazz players, but they could read my charts so much better - and fast So I just kept doing it week after week and now it's gotten to the point where it's really something good. We've gotten gigs around town - the Jazz Bakery, Clancey's, and Ken Poston puts productions together he does a lot of the Stan Kenton rehash type things. I needed to get a CD out.[Live at Donte’s 1968] You can't have a record out there that's thirty years old. So I began to work on that.”

From there it just seems like Mike was in the right place at the right time. For example his association with Johnny Carson, Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Band happened this way:

S.R.: How did you happen you hook up with Doc Severinsen and "The Tonight Show?"

M.B.: I had gotten a cal! from Louie Bellson. I used to work for Louie (circa 1961) and that was the first good gig that I had. He was married to Pearl Bailey, and I had done six weeks with her along with two bus loads of dancers and singers. I had gotten the gig with Louie through someone who had recommended me. and I later wrote something for one of Louie's albums. Evidently Doc must have been at the recording session and he asked Louie who had written the chart. When Louie told him it was me, Doc said. "Have him send me some charts." So I wrote five two-page charts. Short ones. They had to be short because they don't get played on the air too long. I knew they were going to be used for television where there isn't that much time. You only get to hear a few bars.”

And serendipity was also in play when Mike moved on to do work on the Academy Awards TV show:

“S.R.: How did you gel the Academy Awards gig?

M.B.: ..., that has to do with Bill Conti. I have something on my wall that goes back to 1987 regarding that show. And when Conti gets the show, I usually get something to write. In the last few years it's gotten even better because he's given me nicer things to do. There's about three of us that do the main work, but you'll see about ten or fifteen credits on there because he's used other people's charts. Maybe just a few bars or something. The thing to remember with the Academy Awards is that you don't play original music; it's all film music. In other words, it has to be music from movies. No television stuffl Some guys would write the eight bar play-ons, and I would do some of those, too. And there's the production numbers for the performers who are on the show. I've gotten to write the medleys where band numbers are needed. They usually don't get on the air, but they are neat things. They're a lot of work and they pay a lot of money. I did one for Ennio Morricone who started with spaghetti westerns and went on to write more music for the movies than anybody else. And he's still going. I did one on Hank Mancini. too. I've done different things where I get to write a real ballsy band number; not like the television garbage that you hear. It ends up like a Jazz piece done by my band, only with strings. So it's turned into something really good, as far as the music is concerned. It's not fluffy sh**. Bill likes it and the producers like it. It's nothing far out, but still a far cry from what used to be done.”

With all this going on in his career, is it any wonder then that Mike’s big band has a waiting list of musicians who want to perform in it? I mean, the guy is a pro’s pro, not to mention a vanishing breed, as calls for the kind of skills he has developed over the years are sadly not in great demand these days.

Of the eleven tracks on La Fiesta, four are Mike’s original compositions and the rest are a smattering of Jazz standards, Great American Songbook and one adaptation from the Classical music repertoire.

Each displays Mike’s unique ability to get inside a song or a tune and find an interesting way to create an arrangement around it. With the possible exception of the four originals, you’ve probably heard this music before but you’ve never heard it orchestrated in this manner.

Like his mentor, Bill Holman, Mike’s approach in developing his arrangements is “horizontal” that is to say linear; they progress from one stage to another in a single, series of steps. To think of it another way, it is a sequential, linear narrative.

Mike’s stuff pulsates forward. He weaves other elements of the arrangement into his main statement, but everything he does in his charts creates momentum. The music pops with a kinetic energy that is almost palpable.

Another impression of Mike’s music is that is sounds effortless - unforced - it just flows. Mike knows the possibilities, he knows what works singularly or in combination, so there no strain to the sounds he creates in his arrangements.

When it’s time for a soloist, a tension-and-release platform within the chart literally launches the player into his solo. It’s all very dramatic as he sets things up in such a way so as to call attention to the featured performer.

Mike concludes his interview with Steve Randisi with the following statement:

“My feeling is, if you're going to do something, do it right, or as best you can. You might not make a ton of money, but so what? Like Ernie Watts says, "Just keep doin' what you're doin’ ‘till you drop." They'll be a certain percentage of people who will like what you're doing and you'll survive. But don't try to fit in. I was lost for about ten years, going through the whole "Jesus Christ Superstar" era and all the Rock crap. I totally lost the Jazz thing. Then, for about two years. I found myself writing Country and Western songs. Can you imagine that? You can't do what somebody else does. You have to be yourself and do what you do. And if you want to be successful in Jazz - buy property!”

I, for one, am certainly happy that Mike found his way through the morass of commercialism and re-dedicated himself to big band Jazz. He is a repository of big band Jazz arranging experience and skills and the half century over which he accumulated them will never come again.

The proof of this assertion is in the eleven charts that comprise La Fiesta.

La Fiesta CDs and downloads are available at cdbaby.com and digital downloads are available at iTunes & Amazon.com.

Mike Barone and Mike Barone Big Band are both on Facebook and you can also locate more information about Mike at www.mikebaronemusic.com

and via his YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/mikebaronebigband.

Randy Weston - The Len Lyons Interview

© -  Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

With the death of pianist, composer-arranger and bandleader Randy Weston on September 1, 2018, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles embarked on a WestonQuest.

We dug through the Jazz literature on Randy Weston at our disposal and found material to create a compilation of writings about Randy that will appear on these pages in a series of subsequent postings. It’s our small way of attempting to do justice to Randy’s career in music, one that spanned almost 70 years. Not many artists are fortunate enough to be productive for almost three quarters of a century!

The following will be among the featured writings on Randy and his music:

• “Randy Weston (Afrobeats)” and essay from Gary Giddins, Visions of Jazz
• “Randy Weston Interview,” in Len Lyons, The Great Jazz Pianists
• Liner Notes to the New Faces at Newport [1956] Metro Jazz LP [E1005]
• Liner Notes to The Modern Art of Jazz Dawn LP [DLP-1116 reissued as Dawn CD-107 by Fresh Sound Records]
• The insert notes from the booklet to the Mosaic Select Randy Weston 3 CD set [MS 004]
• The relevant excerpts on Randy and his music from The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Ed.; Oxford Companion to Jazz, Bill Kirchner, ed.; The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Barry Kernfeld, ed.
• “Randy Weston interview” in Art Taylor, Notes and Tones
• Ira Gitler, “Randy Weston, Downbeat, xxxi/6, (1964), p. 16
• Mark Gardner, “Randy Weston,” Jazz Monthly, xii/11 (1967)
• Larry Birnbaum, “Randy Weston: African Rooted Rhythm,” Downbeat, xlvi/15, (1979)
• Ted Panken, Randy Weston DownBeat Interview, August 2016.

To date, we have published Randy Weston In Memoriam by Robert Ham which appeared in the November 2018 issue of DownBeat and the Gary Giddins piece - “Afrobeats.”

Here’s the interview published in Len Lyons’ The Great Jazz Pianists that provides a 1983 perspective on Randy and his music.

“Randy Weston is an imposing, almost regal figure. Large-limbed and graceful, he stands six feet seven inches tall. Wearing a dashiki and a colorful skullcap, he greeted me in his motel room overlooking San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. During much of our interview he methodically rubbed body oils into his hands, feet, and neck. Weston seems to glow with pride when he speaks of Africa, where he lived from 1967 to 1973 and operated a cultural exchange center for musicians called the African Rhythms Club.

More than any other jazz pianist, Weston incorporates African elements into his playing in an obvious way. He shifts meters frequently-between 4/4, 3/4, and less common metric patterns. He also uses the bass register of the piano as a kind of tonal drum. During a rrio set the night before (with James Leary, bass, and Ken Marshall, drums) Weston demonstrated an uncanny ability to establish driving, hypnotic rhythms by using only one or two chords-sometimes only one or two notes-per measure. He has perfected what Bill Evans called the rhythmic displacement of ideas. There were times he made the whole room sway to his personal beat.

Weston's exposure to African culture and its derivative music began in childhood. His father, born in Panama, was of Jamaican descent and operated a restaurant in Brooklyn, serving West Indian cuisine. Realizing that Randy would not learn African history at school, his father educated him in his heritage at home. The restaurant was frequented by jazz musicians, who exposed Randy to the music of New York during the rise of modern jazz. He remembers listening to Bud Powell, Duke Jordan, Art Tatum, Willie "the Lion" Smith, and Erroll Garner. His most important influence, evident from the degree of space, or silence, he leaves in his music, was Thelonious Monk.

Weston began his career at the unusually advanced age of twenty-three, and his first job was accompanying the blues singer Bull Moose Jackson. He then worked with saxophonist Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, trumpeter Kenny Dorham, and drummer Art Blakey. In the late fifties Weston met historian

Marshall Stearns and toured with him on a lecture circuit, giving demonstrations of jazz piano styles. Wcston became well known as a composer, especially of jazz waltzes like "Little Niles" and "Hi-Fly," which have become classics in the jazz repertoire. In 1960 Weston composed "Uhuru Africa" for a big band and vocalist, with text provided by poet Langston Hughes. In 1967, following a State Department-sponsored tour of fourteen African countries, Weston moved to Tangier, Morocco, where he established the African Rhythms Club. In 1973 he moved to Paris. Since then he has done most of his playing in Europe and Africa.

Weston is very disturbed by the picture of Africa presented in America. "All we hear about are the problems of Africa," he said, "like wars, famines, and racial problems. That's what makes the news. But there are tremendous musical and cultural experiences there." His own African experience, he explained, made him aware of spirituality, nature, and the historical role of the musician in African culture. "He was a communicator, whose task it was to spread knowledge of the traditions of the people. He was a healer, too; scientists in the West are just beginning to look into music as therapy. There is music for weddings, funerals, and virtually every aspect of life. In Africa today the musician is still an integral part of all community life."

Weston sees jazz piano as part of the black man's Africanization of European instruments. "I would like to have been there when our people first came into contact with these instruments," he said. "Can you imagine the excitement, the freshness of the first encounter? To me, what Louis Armstrong did was fantastically modern, really avant-garde." My line of questioning begin with the origins of jazz.

What is your vision of the connection between African music and American jazz?

Let's go back as far as we can, farther back than [cornetist] Buddy Bolden, and imagine the first African who was brought here as a slave. His instruments were taken away from him because they were a means of communication, a way of keeping the traditions alive, a way of keeping the people together. The music we developed here on new instruments, which we call jazz, or gospel, or blues, calypso, bossa nova — they all have the same basic traditions.

What makes our music different? The rhythm is tremendously complicated, especially in most indigenous African music. Improvisation is very important. The individual sound of each player, of every handclap, is very important. The music is based on flatted thirds, blue notes, as we call them. When you hear the religious songs or the songs of sadness in Africa, you can hear the beginning of the blues. Creating something new out of the blues is the real genius of our music [jazz].

It's also very important in this tradition to see the artist work, not only to hear him. Each musician does a completely different thing when he plays. So you're losing something in both jazz and African music if you only listen to a recording. There's also an extremely evident spiritual quality in Africa which you can also hear in Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, or Monk. Getting back to these original sources nourishes our newer ideas.

Has your closeness to African drumming and rhythms made you more critical of American jazz drummers?

Not at all, It taught me what tremendous creativity there must be in this music to produce jazz drumming. I hear jazz drums as a collection of African drums, and I think drummers are working more and more on producing direct African sounds and rhythms.

What is the response of Africans to jazz or to jazz piano?

First I have to say that I think it's a miracle that African and European influences came together to produce jazz. It's an act of God. That's the only way I can understand it. How the Africans respond to jazz in its present form has a lot to do with who is playing it. Any group heavily into the blues form would be fantastic. If the musicians were avant-garde, half the audience would probably walk out. What's the most important element of our music? To play the blues - that's the way I was taught. Incidentally, that's the way our music is always taught, not from books, but aurally, by hanging out with other musicians. Playing the blues was always the test while I was young.

My band played for audiences from Morocco and Tunisia as far east as Beirut. We played for audiences who had never heard a concert, not to mention a jazz concert. But I always had an African drummer with me. I would say to the audience, "This is your music after it crossed the Atlantic, after it came into contact with European civilization. Your music has changed in our hands, but the basic traditions are still the same. This is what happened to your music."

I wrote something called "African Cookbook"; it's in 6/4 time. The music

goes in waves, not in a strictly divided beat. It's jazz, but the similarities [with African music] are very deep. On occasion the audience would raise their hands in the air and take the song away from us with their hand clapping. They never lost a bear. They'd keep the song going and wouldn't let us stop playing.

Can you recall your first experiences with the piano in this country?

I remember very well. When I was a teenager in the forties, we had the

most fantastic music all around us. My father had a great record collection: Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Lunceford, gospel groups, and so on. But he would never have described it as jazz. It was so much a part of our lives; it was just music, our music. It didn't have a name. Like a lot of musicians my age, I was a first-generation New Yorker. My father came from Panama by way of Jamaica. My mother was a Virginian.

I didn't want to study music at first. As you can see, I'm physically big, and I was six feet tall when I was twelve years old. So I wanted to be an athlete. But my father was very wise. He knew that the streets were rough and that the best way to keep a boy off them was to give him a musical instrument to study. Of course, I was in complete revolt. My first piano teacher started me on Bach, which seemed to have no relation to my life at all. The battle was waged for three years with my father physically forcing me to practice. Finally the teacher told him to save his money. "This cat will never play," he said.

After a while I got to know some musicians who showed me some melodies that caught me. I got another teacher who realized that I wanted to swing everything, so he gave me some popular music along with the classical. In the army I started to learn theory from other musicians, and afterward I went to a GI school in Brooklyn, where I played with some fine people.

I should also mention that the influence of the black church was very powerful. Naturally I didn't want to go there either, but my mother took me every week. I heard gospel music regularly and suddenly began to understand the piano better and how much it meant to our people. Churches were the only place black people could congregate because it was assumed the pastor had things under control. Certainly everyone could be watched. And that's where the piano was kept - a European custom - and Christian/European music was played there. But we responded to it, as Africans.

Were there particular pianists you were aware of at the time, pianists who influenced you?

"Influence" is an interesting word. I'd say there are pianists whose souls have entered me, like Monk. From other pianists, maybe one melody, or one bar, enters me - and it remains with me. To be more direct, there was a time that I started to play like certain people I was hearing. I was successful with Count Basie. I really could imitate his style, which was probably one of the easiest to play. Yet I was fascinated by his sense of rhythm and space. He could say so much with so few notes.

Next came Nat "King" Cole. I'd never heard a piano played with so much beauty and taste. That's also one of the qualities I like in John Lewis. Each note is sheer beauty. Art Tatum shattered me and frightened me, so I never

consciously thought I was playing anything like Art. But when I play, I hear Art. Like I hear four or five notes from one of his runs. He taught me to be more daring. I guess Monk came after the Tatum thing.

Another musician I've been close to since my teens is [bassist] Ahmad Abdul Malik [who played bass with Monk and the oud, an Egyptian stringed instrument]. His father was Sudanese, so he had a definite Eastern influence. In fact, on an album with [saxophonist] Johnny Griffin in the late fifties they recorded jazz with Eastern and African music, probably one of the earliest records to do that.

Coleman Hawkins has been very important to me. In fact, I got to know Monk through him. For a time I tried to play piano like Hawkins played saxophone. Anyway, Monk played for Coleman, which is how I first heard him. I remember thinking, this is it! This is the direction we have to go in. It's like going back to the source in order to progress. Of course, a lot of artists are taking other directions, new directions, but I think there's only so far you can go that way. We can go further by continuing the source of the tradition. That means going back to the East, to Africa, Asia, and India.

Yet electronic instruments seem to be leading us in a technological, Western direction rather than hack to the sources.

Yes, I think so, but I also think it's temporary. Although we're using electronic, complex, and mechanical devices, away from nature's instruments, we're also searching for a more natural existence in other ways. There's a great increase in the interest in natural foods, exercise, natural medicine, and so on. When I left America and was without its contact for six years, I came back without a recording from 1965 to 1972. People told me I just had to make a record, so I complied with several compositions about Morocco for the album Blue Moses. Then I was told, "This is the electronic age, and you've got to use an electronic piano, too." Well, I don't like the electric piano because my sound is my voice, and my voice is what makes me unique. You don't hear my sound on the electric. But I listened to these people. I compromised and played it their way. Well, this record was a blessing for me - it got tremendous airplay, and I'm very grateful for it. But I don't ever want to make another record like it. When I hear myself on electric piano, I cry a little because I don't hear my sound.

In our music that sound is very important. A personal sound is the most difficult thing to achieve; it's an extension of yourself. Years ago Coleman Hawkins would walk into a club, and all he had to do was play one note - he wouldn't have to play a lot of notes because he had that sound. I've heard Monk stop an audience dead by hitting one chord. That's part of the African

tradition. We've got to maintain this tradition even though we've come in contact with other cultures; it's our nourishment.

When you play the [acoustic) piano, which type of instrument do you prefer?

Each individual instrument has a soul, a certain spirit or quality. You do have a name on that piano: Steinway, Baldwin, Bosendorfer, Bechstein. These are my favorites. But in Venice I played on a full concert grand, a Steinway, in a beautiful theater with twenty-five hundred people in the audience. It was like a battle. I really had to work to play that piano, and I couldn't explain it. When I listened to the tapes later, I realized I could not get in tune with that piano. Then, a month later, I played in France on exactly the same type of piano, and I couldn't do anything wrong with that instrument. It was pure pleasure to me.

Could it have been you? One night you were "on," but in Venice, you were "off."

That happens, too, but not in this case. It was the instrument. Pianos are made by men, so their spirits enter into it. Each individual instrument becomes different regardless of the brand name.

There's another thing I've thought about piano companies: I'd like to see them make their instruments more available to jazz artists in return for endorsements. My impression is that the companies are more classically oriented.

Some jazz artists do get terrific cooperation. Oscar Peterson is now supplied with Bosendorfers.

The Bosendorfer is more than a piano; it's an orchestra with those nine extra notes in the bass.

Yet Oscar told me he doesn't use them, that they'd have to be written for.

Yeah, but I use them, maybe because of my African direction. There's a whole octave of drums down there. I've been able to use that piano quite frequently in Europe.

What types of pianos did you find in Africa?

They tend to fly them in from Europe. The weather just isn't very good tor pianos there. It's too humid, and most of them have to be "tropicalized." I don't think the Africans make pianos at all.

Do you think there's anyone who is showing the way to the future of jazz piano music?

McCoy Tyner, without doubt. He's showing the way to the future, yet he's maintaining the tradition, the rhythmic quality, the spiritual vitality, the humor, the sadness. If he only knew what a fan I am!

It's gratifying to see how well received his music is, too.

That's right. You've really said something there, because what he's doing is so important. When Monk and the other giants stopped playing, the other

cats had no idea where to go. They were without a leader. Some of them have become more involved with European classical music, and others are searching for something new in electronics. The idea is to get back on the track, and McCoy is on the right track.””