Customer Reviews

African Cookbook

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Randy Weston, has basically had two different phases of his musical career: his earlier work, which is more hard bop, bluesy kind of jazz, and his later work which is caharcterized by his emphasis on African beats, rhythms and melodies. The music recorded on this CD came at a time (1964) when he was basically transitioning from one style to the other one, and as a result, there are elements of both here but I would say there is more emphasis on the former than the latter. His forthcoming output would be a lot more deeply steeped in African music. And on this CD, there is great sax playing by Booker Ervin, who was a mainstay in Weston's band at that time (The much later album Khepara, features another great sax player, Pharoah Sanders, and it is interesting to note the contrast in their styles).

African cook-book has the sound of the under-ground in terms of being neither commercial sounding or that annoying jazz increasingly has of being too abstact to follow. But it is fluid yet still abstacting as jazz does with wonderful melodies. Booker Erving makes this album come together with his own horn.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I did not realize this album was over 40 years old, but I guess that's a testimony to Randy Weston. I couldn't stop listening to this CD once it arrived. There's so much good music here and it all sounds fresh to my ears. The compositions are unique in the way they draw on a variety of traditions.

Mr. Weston is a generous performer too - allowing the other musicians on this album to shine. This is a good addition to your collection and a great starting place for an introduction to Randy Weston's music.