A Note of Introduction!
The Weston Blue Room is the portal of entry to TGOW-I's Blues/Spiritual Matrix Database, a repository of Great Black Music - Ancient/Future! +
Our Big Brother, Chief Weston, departed this physical world and joined the realm of our Ancestors on September 1, 2018. Our work in The Weston Blue Room continues on "...In Memory Of" his wisdom and his vision.
EVOLVING STRUCTURED CRITICAL DIALOG:
Our formal relationship with NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston began after his performance at the Atlanta Jazz Festival in May, 2004. He accepted a luncheon invitation arranged by Ed Silvera and, as was the case on every subsequent meeting, he came bearing gifts - a DVD of his "Live in St Lucia" performance, and a copy of Wayne B. Chandler's book “Ancient Future: The Teachings and Prophetic Wisdom of the Seven Hermetic Laws of Ancient Egypt.”
This was followed in Spring of 2006 by Dr. Weston's acceptance of an invitation to serves as a Distinguished Scholar/Musician for Mississippi Valley State University's Delta Research & Cultural Institute Blues as Abstract Truth Residency. It was at the conclusion of this residency that the basis was established for a decade-long collaborative relationship with Dr. Weston focusing principally on a common interest we shared on the "Afrikan Roots of the Blues."
Highlights of this relationship included an evolving structured critical dialogue w/ Dr. Weston on a range of active projects that he was engaged in that are documented in the Weston Blue Room database. They include:
- African Nubian Suite, Premier at NYU
- Jus' Blues Music Foundation President's Award, Memphis, TN
- 50th Anniversary of the Release of Uhuru Africa, Tribeca, NYC
- The Legacy of James Reese Europe & the 369th Infantry, Harlem & Tribeca, NYC
- Percussionist Wade Barnes' Blues as Abstract Truth Residency, MVSU, Itta Bena, MS; and
- Roots of the Blues - A Spiritual Awakening, Recording w/ Billy Harper, Avatar, NYC
While on-going initiatives are noted below, our last conversations with Dr. Weston focused on his desired way forward. This included arrangements that he & his wife, Fatoumata, were making to donate his personal book library to the new Marcus Garvey Museum in Jamaica, & his desire to compose a new suite dedicated to the Legacy of Timbuktu with a tribute to this ancient Afrikan city's preeminent Scholar of Peace, Ahmed Baba.
Roots of the Blues Recording Session, Avatar Studio, NY 2013
Weston's African Rhythms & Blues Legacy
ESSENCE of BLUE-JAZZ!
ESSENCE of BLUE-JAZZ!
ESSENCE of BLUE-JAZZ!
Explore a sample collection of Dr. Weston's Blues compositions spanning his 60+ year recording career. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN: The Essence of Blue-Jazz
BLUE-JAZZ LOUNGE
ESSENCE of BLUE-JAZZ!
ESSENCE of BLUE-JAZZ!
Journey into the world of Blue-Jazz with a full array of master musicians performing both instrumental and vocal renditions. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN: Blue-Jazz Listening Lounge
BLUZZ 4 AFRIKA!
BLUES to SENEGAL
BLUES to SENEGAL
Enjoy this Spotify Playlist highlighting the wisdom of Chief Randy Weston via his compositions & arrangements that honor the Blues tradition on the continent of Afrika.
BLUES to SENEGAL
BLUES to SENEGAL
BLUES to SENEGAL
Enjoy this "LIVE" performance featuring
Randy Weston & Billy Harper, "Blues to Senegal", from the LP, Roots of the Blues,
TGOW-I is proud to announce
the first course of our new
Independent Study Program World Cafe'
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"THE AFRIKAN ROOTS OF THE BLUZZ"
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Following the wisdom of Dr. Randy Weston,
we begin w/ an exploration of the
and conclude w/:
...On a Path of Self-Determination!
Listen Up!
As he entered his 9th decade, Dr. Weston & his wife Fatoumata were firmly committed to safeguarding his legacy and securing the rights & benefits of his cultural productions, a commitment inspired by Weston's research on the early 20th century activities of James Reese Europe & the Clef Club. The two CDs below are exemplary models of their success in this regard.
The African Nubian Suite, 2017
This is planetary music stretching across millennia, nations, histories, landscapes, and soundscapes. Randy Weston is renowned for his boundless imagination & his resistance to categories. Taking as its subject matter the very origins of humanity, the suite was inspired by the discovery of the fossilized skeletal remains of what is believed to be the oldest example of a human-like hominid. Nicknamed "Ardi" (short for Artipithecus radius), she resided some 4.4 million years ago in the land that would become ancient Nubia and modern-day Ethiopia.
Weston manages to pay tribute the ancient tombs of Sidi Bilal in Aswan, the Sufi tradition, the holy city of Touba in Senegal, China's great Shang Dynasty, African folk music, the timeless history of the blues and the unity of human-kind. Grounded in the spiritual, the scholarly and poetic, it's fitting that the discoveries of Dr. Wayne Chandler, and the poetry of late Jayne Cortez also find voice in this work.
Sound, 2018
When Randy Weston touches a piano, he reaches way, way back to a time before pianos, back before civilizations began. Like the great spiritual diviners of Africa and the bluesman of the Diaspora, he reaches into the world of sound not yet born, creating statements of such startling originality that terms like "modern" or "avant-garde" are meaningless..... Weston's left-hand is a rumbling, majestic drum chorus while his right hand is a spirited circle of dancers. Everything he plays is a praise song to the Ancestors, especially his musical predecessors. Weston has absorbed the spirits of all the great "ticklers" - Duke, Art Tatum, Earl Hines, Nat Cole, Monk, all of them - and through his fertile imagination he always takes us on a journey from the ancient to the future and back again.
- Dr. Robin D. G. Kelly
For More Information on Dr. Weston, Visit:
TGOW-I's Blues/Spiritual Matrix Database!
I. The Teachings!
III. Sonny Boy, II's Blues
II. Weston's Blue Room
Digital archives in this room highlight traditional & contemporary Spirituals, and educational resources that support the goals of the DeltaMediaProject.com. The Spirituals are examined within the context of plantation economies, as well as the basis of such 20th century genres like the R&B, Jazz, and "Freedom Songs" of the Civil Rights Movement.
II. Weston's Blue Room
III. Sonny Boy, II's Blues
II. Weston's Blue Room
The Randy Weston Blue Room offers highlights of an outgrowth of structured critical dialogue w/ Dr. Weston on a range of active projects that he was engaged in from 2004 - 2018. Features include the organization of Blues compositions into themes, and special projects reflecting his personal research on African music history - Ancient/Future!
III. Sonny Boy, II's Blues
III. Sonny Boy, II's Blues
III. Sonny Boy, II's Blues
Glendora, MS's own Alex "Rice"Miller (12/5/1912 - 5/24/1965), is best known as Sonny Boy Williamson, II. and "King of the Blues Harmonica". This room is dedicated to his memory, and to the hundreds of male & female artists like B.B. King, Denise LaSalle and others associated w/ the history & evolution of Delta Blues.
IV. Golden Triangle
IV. Golden Triangle
III. Sonny Boy, II's Blues
The Golden Triangle room focuses on the Blues tradition in the wider Afrikan Diaspora, and features music from the Motherland, the Americas, and the Caribbean Islands. Resources extend back to examine the Afrikan Roots of the Blues, the evolution of styles like Reggae, and highlights from the music of Spain, Morocco, Cuba & Brazil.
V. 2 Black - 2 Blue!
IV. Golden Triangle
V. 2 Black - 2 Blue!
The history of the Blues includes a wide range and array of "Protest Vibes" rarely played on commercial airwaves. These vibes evolve from artists like Leadbelly to Josh White, Nina Simone, Oscar Brown, Jr., Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron, Bob Marley, Fela, and continue up to & include the young artist associated w/ contemporary Hip-hop's "conscious" rap.
VI. Southern Soul
IV. Golden Triangle
V. 2 Black - 2 Blue!
This room pays tribute to the genre known as "Southern Soul", including individual artists, groups & record labels that have contributed to it's legacy. Special honor & recognition is accorded to the on-going work of the Jus' Blues Music Foundation in presenting an "Annual Awards" celebration & its "Blues Got a Soul" youth education initiative.
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