Thursday 12 March 2009

Randy Weston - Uhuru Africa (1960)




1.Uhuru Kwansa (Weston)
2.African Lady (Weston, L. Hughes)
3.Bantu (Weston)
4.Kucheza Blues (Weston).



Randy Weston Orchestra
Randy Weston piano
Clark Terry trumpet, flugelhorn
Benny Bailey trumpet
Richard Williams trumpet
Freddie Hubbard trumpet
Slide Hampton trombone
Jimmy Cleveland trombone
Quentin Jackson trombone
Julius Watkins french-horn
Gigi Gryce alt sax, flute
Yusef Lateef tenor sax, flute, oboe
Sahib Shihab alt sax, baritone sax
Budd Johnson tenor sax, clarinet
Jerome Richardson baritone sax, piccolo
Cecil Payne baritone sax
Les Spann guitar, flute
Kenny Burrell guitar
George Duvivier bass
Ron Carter bass
Max Rouch drums, percussion
Charlie Persip drums, percussion
Wilbert G. T. Hoggan drums
Candido congas
Michael Babatunde Olatunji percussion
Armando Peraza bongos
Martha Flowers vocal
Brock Peters vocal
Tuntemeke Sanga narrator.

UHURU AFRIKA
On a recent trip to Nigeria at the time of Independence, I listened to much Nigerian jazz, both live and recorded. In this music of the New Africa, it seems to me, the American influence is considerable. Tony Scott has been to South Africa. Louis Armstrong has attracted enormous crowds to racetracks and outdoor stadiums all over the continent. Dizzy Gillespie has charmed not only snakes but hep and unhep cats alike. American recordings have penetrated to the farthest jungle jukebox.

Jazz is a popular commodity with all African radio stations. And Victor Ola-lya's Yoruba band in Lagos calls itself The Cool Cats. To the African drum beat have been added Birmingham breaks, Harlem riffs and Birdland trimmings. The basic beat of jazz which began in Africa, thence transplanted to the New World, has now come back home bringing with it most of the contemporary American additions -from blues to post-bop.

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