African Rhythms Sextet

The African Rhythm Sextet, with special guest NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart, celebrates the enduring legacy of legendary pianist, composer, and NEA Jazz Master Dr. Randy Weston. Weston championed the deep African roots of jazz. After visiting the continent in 1961, Weston created a groundbreaking musical vision that fused West African rhythms and traditions with the innovations of jazz icons such as Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. This group is led by Weston’s long-time musical director, saxophonist, flautist, and composer T.K. Blue. For this performance, Blue reunites many of the musicians who performed alongside Weston for decades—he will be joined by Chief Baba Neal Clark on African percussion; Alex Blake, bass; Ku-Umba Frank Lacey, trombone; Sharp Radway, piano; and special guest Billy Hart, drums. Randy Weston was a pioneer in recognizing the importance of African culture as the seed and root of American Jazz Music. This became clear in the early 1960s with the formation of his ensemble Randy Weston’s African Rhythms and the release of the pivotal recording Uhuru Afrika (Roulette, 1960). According to Giovanni Russonello New York Time’s Obituary, Weston “visited Nigeria [in 1961] as part of a delegation of the American Society for African Culture, beginning a lifelong trans-Atlantic exchange…After two more trips to Africa, he moved to Morocco, in 1968, having first arrived there on a trip sponsored by the State Department. He stayed for five years…where he ran the African Rhythms Cultural Center.” On the cusp of the centennial birthday of the late NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston, members of his “African Rhythms” band have rejoined forces to pay tribute. The sonic foundations of Weston’s style include the dynamic drum polyrhythms of West Africa and Weston’s orchestral and highly rhythmic approach to the piano. By bringing Weston’s compositions and arrangements to the stage, the African Rhythms Sextet transmits the very spirit of his person. This