African Cookbook

VINYL FORMAT. Exact repro LP. This fine, long out-of-print album by jazz pianist/composer Randy Weston is available again. Long one of jazz's best (and most underrated) composers, Weston was one of the first American jazz musicians to investigate and embrace the African influences in jazz. (He lived in Africa for a time in the 1970s.) A spare yet melodic, Thelonious Monk-influenced pianist, Weston led a great band in 1964 -- when African Cookbook was recorded -- featuring the big Texas tenor sax of the late Booker Ervin. The rest of the band plays with inspiration and restraint. Weston weaves the African influence subtly into his inviting compositions -- though the influence, Weston might say, was there all along. His tunes are warm, catchy, rich with the flavors of Monk, Duke Ellington and African music. Listening to this album is like sitting down to a sumptuous meal, one you wish to savor. Personnel: Randy Weston (piano, celesta); Big Black (vocals); Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone); Ray Copeland (trumpet, flugelhorn); Vishnu Wood, Lenny McBrowne (bass instrument); Harrold Murray (percussion).