Adventures in Vinyl Episode 2: More Afrocentric Jazz

Randy Weston, “Tanjah”

Photo by Philipp Klausner on Unsplash of Tangiers (Tanjah)

In one of my most common recurring dreams, I’m shopping in a record store / thrift shop / or used stereo store. In a recent dream the person next to me looking through the vinyl crates pulled out a vintage copy of “Their Satanic Majesties Request” (my appreciation of TSMR here).

In order to keep him from taking the record, I commented “Not a very good album.” Then regretting my subterfuge, I added “Actually it’s very good.” My fellow shopper answered, “Yeah, but it’s fifty bucks.” What I thought was a bargain thrift store turned out to be a pricy used vinyl boutique. Talk about a nightmare.

The dream was based on a real experience from a few weeks ago, when I found a couple of boxes of vinyl in an antique / consignment shop. Most of the crates consisted of the kinds of mainstream classic era rock / pop that I couldn’t find at my usual second-hand outlets — Beach Boys, Mamas and Papas, Neil Diamond, etc. The prices — typically around $20–$30 — each were far higher than what you’d normally see in the average antique store crate (mostly in the $2–5 range in my area). According to book value, the pricing might have been reasonable had the records been if good condition, but most were practically unplayable, unless you enjoy listening to a bowl of Rice Krispies.

Still, I managed to snapped up a heck of a bargain, : “Tanjah” by Randy Weston (whom I had heard of), from 1973. It was a promotion copy in Very Good+, with a full-page credits insert and a laid-in half-sheet promotional guide, and it was the cheapest album in the store: $2. Afterwards, I found that the original (not reissue) in this condition usually sells for $20-$60. But the real value was the music itself (and the legacy of its creator). Here are some things I discovered as the result of my two buck investment:

Randy Weston played with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in the 1950’s and had studied informally under Thelonious Monk. He’s usually classified as hard bop or post-bop, but critics have pointed out that labels are far too confining for his He had begun researching the African sources of jazz almost a decade before Gillespie or Ellington, recording some of his explorations on 1960’s Uhuru Africa, with arrangements by Weston’s frequent collaborator, trombonist Melba Liston.

Weston wasn’t content with just opening a path — he devoted his life to creating a dialogue between American and African. Not only did he seek out African music, he also lived in Africa while researching its history.

In Africa I discovered what the true purpose of a musician is. We are historians, and it is our purpose to tell the people the true story of our past, and to extend a better vision of the future. (Randy Weston official website)

(For more information, see NPR’s profile of Weston and the New York Time’s glowing obituary).

And what of the music on Tanjah?

It’s vibrant and compelling, in your soul without being in your face. Compare Weston’s exuberant re-take of his classic (often covered) song “Little Niles” with the original — the title track from the 1959 album (with liner notes by Langston Hughes). Both are wonderful performances by talented ensembles, and both are superbly arranged by Melba Liston. But the later version showcases an extended piano solo starting at 1:15 that leaps effortlessly across styles.

[embed]

All this wonderful music for the price of a lottery ticket. I’m definitely keeping an eye out for more Randy Weston albums, and maybe I’ll be luck enough to discover some of Melba Liston’s work as well.