“The Roots of the Blues” Randy Weston — Billy Harper

Essential to understanding Randy Weston’s artistry is the significance of the role played by Duke Ellington. Besides Duke’s obvious cultural imprint which shaped so many musicians of Weston’s generation, Ellington’s piano style is at the root of Randy’s technique. The enduring brilliance of Weston's playing is testimony to Duke's gift...

The partnership of Randy Weston and saxophonist Billy Harper dates back to the summer of ’74. This musical collaboration is based as much on their mutual love of the darker hues of their respective instruments as it is their blues simpatico.

Weston and Harper bonded instantly after playing together in Tangier. “I heard that sound I like,” recalls Weston, “When Billy plays the tenor it’s like an orchestra – the call & response is always there, I always hear the black church in his playing,  he’s constantly singing through his horn. As far as why we work well together... it’s the magic of that big, black sound he gets. Billy is a great blues player !

According to Randy... “Another reason this partnership succeeds is Billy’s sound. It comes comes straight out of Africa. He's a Texas-born-tenor-man of Semali ancestral lineage, but it's a universal sound; that cry he gets reaches into your soul. He plays a modern saxophone but it's very poetic. You listen to his solos and it's a complete composition. you hear the whole history of the tenor.”

In myriad ways The Roots of the Blues, recorded early in this very year 2013, marks a new hallmark in Randy Weston’s distinguished 87-year odyssey on the planet, as a fervent seeker of African Rhythms.

The Jazz Bakery is privileged to have the opportunity to present this powerful duo —enjoy !

• Special thanks to the brilliant liner notes of Willard Jenkens.