| Khepera | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1998 | |||
| Recorded | March 1998 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Label | Verve [1] | |||
| Producer | Randy Weston, Brian Bacchus | |||
| Randy Weston chronology | ||||
| ||||
Khepera is an album by the American pianist Randy Weston, released in 1998. [2] [3] The album was in part an exploration of the connection between African and Chinese cultures. [4] It is dedicated to Cheikh Anta Diop. [5] Khepera is Egyptian for transformation. [6]
Recorded in March 1998, the album was produced by Weston and Brian Bacchus. [7] [8] Min Xiao-Fen played the gong and pipa on two tracks. [9] Talib Kibwe played alto sax and flute; Benny Powell played trombone. [10] [11] Melba Liston help to arrange the music. [12] Weston played many songs at a 6/8 time. [13]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [14] |
| Birmingham Post | [4] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [15] |
| Los Angeles Times |  [16] |
| MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide | [11] |
| The Sydney Morning Herald | [17] |
JazzTimes praised Weston's "uncanny ability to re-craft, to maintain freshness in melodies and rhythms he has investigated frequently, such as the familiar 'Niger Mambo'." [9] The Washington Post noted that "an Ellingtonian elegance marks the massed horns of the swinging 'Portrait of Cheikh Anta Diop'." [18] The Sydney Morning Herald stated that "the music has a breadth and density of emotion, spirituality, colour and creativity that push it towards masterpiece stature." [17]
The Globe and Mail concluded that "Min's performances aren't quite curios, but they're not a lot more either, one a sweet but inconclusive pipa-piano duet and the other a nonet piece in which she makes only a buzzy cameo appearance." [19] The Los Angeles Times applauded the "particularly effective linkage" of Powell and Pharoah Sanders. [16] The National Post deemed Khepera "a fiendishly clever romp through African rhythms, Chinese melodies and '60s jazz tonalities." [20]
AllMusic called the album "a powerful, even visionary piece of work for any musician," writing that Sanders is "in thrilling form throughout much of the album." [14]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Creation" | |
| 2. | "Anu Anu" | |
| 3. | "The Shrine" | |
| 4. | "The Shang" | |
| 5. | "Prayer Blues" | |
| 6. | "Boran Xam Xam" | |
| 7. | "Portrait of Cheikh Anta Diop" | |
| 8. | "Niger Mambo" | |
| 9. | "Mystery of Love" |
The African Renaissance is the concept that the African people shall overcome the current challenges confronting the continent and achieve cultural, scientific, and economic renewal. This concept was first articulated by Cheikh Anta Diop in a series of essays between 1946 and 1960, later collected in a book titled Towards the African Renaissance. Diop's ideas were further popularized by former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki during his tenure as Deputy President, where the African Renaissance continues to play a key role in the post-apartheid intellectual agenda.
Pharoah Sanders was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", Sanders played a prominent role in the development of free jazz and spiritual jazz through his work as a member of John Coltrane's groups in the mid-1960s, and later through his solo work. He released more than thirty albums as a leader and collaborated extensively with vocalist Leon Thomas and pianist Alice Coltrane, among many others. Fellow saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world".
James Hawthorne
Cheikh Anta Diop was a Senegalese historian, anthropologist, physicist, and politician who studied the human race's origins and pre-colonial African culture. Diop's work is considered foundational to the theory of Afrocentricity, though he himself never described himself as an Afrocentrist. The questions he posed about cultural bias in scientific research contributed greatly to the postcolonial turn in the study of African civilizations.
Cheikh Anta Diop University, also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop and has an enrollment of over 60,000.
T. K. Blue is an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, composer and educator from New York City. His parents were Jamaican and Trinidadian, and he has used their Afro-Caribbean musical styles in his own work. He has worked with, among others, Don Cherry, Jayne Cortez, the South African pianist Dollar Brand, and Randy Weston, for whom he was musical director.
Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection.
Min Xiao-Fen is a Chinese and American pipa player, vocalist, and composer known for her work in traditional Chinese music, contemporary classical music, and jazz.
Orrin Keepnews was an American jazz writer and record producer known for founding Riverside Records and Milestone Records, for freelance work, and for his work at other labels.
Ray Copeland was an American jazz trumpet player and teacher.
Théophile Obenga is professor emeritus in the Africana Studies Center at San Francisco State University. He is a politically active proponent of Pan-Africanism and an Afrocentrist. Obenga is an Egyptologist, linguist, and historian.
Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan was an American jazz pianist.
Ahmed Abdul-Malik was an American jazz double bassist and oud player.
Cecil Payne was an American jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, New York. Payne also played the alto saxophone and flute. He played with other prominent jazz musicians, in particular Dizzy Gillespie and Randy Weston, in addition to his solo work as bandleader.
Melba Doretta Liston was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and composer. Other than those playing in all-female bands, she was the first woman trombonist to play in big bands during the 1940s and 1960s, but as her career progressed she became better known as an arranger, particularly in partnership with pianist Randy Weston. Other major artists with whom she worked include Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, and Count Basie.
Alex Blake is a jazz bass player.
Gil Coggins was an American jazz pianist.
Benny Powell was an American jazz trombonist. He played both standard (tenor) trombone and bass trombone.
The Art of Improvisation is a live album by violinist / composer Leroy Jenkins. It was recorded in October 2004 at an AACM concert in New York City, and was released by Mutable Music in 2005. On the album, Jenkins is joined by the members of his world music improvisation group, Driftwood: Min Xiao-Fen on pipa, Denman Maroney on piano, and Rich O'Donnell on percussion.
Volcano Blues is an album by pianist Randy Weston and Melba Liston, who arranged and conducted most of the music. It was recorded on February 5 and 6, 1993, at BMG Studios in New York City, and was released later that year by Antilles Records, Verve Records and Gitanes Jazz Productions. On the album, Weston and Liston are joined by saxophonists Talib Kibwe, Teddy Edwards, and Hamiet Bluiett, trumpeter Wallace Roney, trombonist Benny Powell, guitarist Ted Dunbar, double bassist Jamil Nasser, drummer Charlie Persip, and percussionists Obo Addy and Neil Clarke. Guitarist and vocalist Johnny Copeland also appears on two tracks.
