A Conversation with NEA Jazz Master, Randy Weston
From: National Endowment for the Arts
Length: 26:05
At the age of 85, Weston's still going strong. In the past year, he published his autobiography African Rhythms and brought out a new CD, The Storyteller. Last week, he was named a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow. He still plays in clubs and he keeps on touring. In fact, I caught up with him when he was in Washington DC to play at the Kennedy Center.I began my conversation with Randy Weston exactly where he begins his autobiography, African Roots. Here's how he opens the introduction to his book. "I come to be a storyteller; I'm not a jazz musican; I tell stories in music."
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
At the age of 85, Weston's still going strong. In the past year, he published his autobiography African Rhythms and brought out a new CD, The Storyteller. Last week, he was named a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow. He still plays in clubs and he keeps on touring. In fact, I caught up with him when he was in Washington DC to play at the Kennedy Center.I began my conversation with Randy Weston exactly where he begins his autobiography, African Roots. Here's how he opens the introduction to his book. "I come to be a storyteller; I'm not a jazz musican; I tell stories in music."
Transcript
Transcript of conversation with Randy Weston
Music up.
Randy Weston: Well, that was a live recording. It wasn't intended to be a recording. But it was at Dizzy's café, Dizzy's club at Lincoln Center in 2009. And I was so happy to have a wonderful group. Unfortunately the great Benny Powell passed away. As Benny Powell's last recording T.K. Blue was saxophone, Neil Clarke and Alice Blake, and our guest was Lewis Nash, you see. So it was a very spiritual evening. We didn't play for a recording. The performance ended up being a recording, which I'm very happy about.
Jo Reed: That was 2001 NEA Jazz Master and 2011 Guggenheim Fellow, pianist and composer, Randy Weston, talking his latest cd, The Storyteller. Welcome to Art Works, the program that goes behind the scenes with some of the nations great artists to explore how art works. I'm your host, Josephine Reed.
Randy Weston i...
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Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkshire Blues | Randy Weston | Zep Tep! . | Random Chance Records | 00:00 | |
| Blue Moses | Randy Weston | Zep Tep!. | Random Chance Records | 00:00 | |
| High Fly | Randy Weston and the African Rhythms Sextet | The Storyteller. | Motema Music | 00:00 |
Additional Credits
Interview conducted and edited by Jo Reed
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