| 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, also known as James Hawthorne Bey and Chief Bey, was an American jazz percussionist and vocalist, a visual artist and folklorist of African traditions. He was also ordained in Nigeria as a Shango Priest.
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.
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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.
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Alex Blake is a jazz bass player.
Gil Coggins was an American jazz pianist.
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