Randy Weston, 92, September 1st, in Brooklyn. In the late 40’s he left the New York jazz scene he was just starting out in for the calmer climes of The Music Inn in the Berkshires where he became fascinated with the African roots of jazz. That fascination would guide the rest of his career. By the sixties he had incorporated African and Caribbean elements into his jazz recordings. In 1967 he settled in Morroco for five years where he recorded both local musicians and visitors from abroad. In 1972 he had a best selling record called Blue Moses.
Though his albums have been infrequent his compositions have often been recorded by other artists. He remained active into his last years. in 2015 he was an Artist-In-Residence at The New School in New York City and could be seen performing live as recently as July.
