Randy Weston, Dewey Redman in Milestone Birthday Concerts

Come in out of the rain for birthday tributes to two jazz giants, both performing this month at Herbst Theatre: pianist Randy Weston, celebrating his 80th birthday; and saxophonist Dewey Redman, commemorating his own 75th.

Randy Weston performs with the Gnawa Master Musicians of Morocco on April 28.

Randy Weston's African Rhythms & The Gnawa Master Musicians of Morocco
“80th Birthday Celebration”
Friday, April 28 • 8PM
Herbst Theatre

“Mr. Weston is a truth seeker who sees a power in music much greater than all of us. Besides, those who have experienced Mr. Weston and African Rhythms know he is right by how the music makes us feel.” —The New York Times
In celebrating his 80th birthday, pianist Randy Weston continues to make the vital connection between African music and American jazz. Born in New York City, Weston lived for a time in Morocco (1968–73) where he steeped himself in its music, rich in Arabic song and African rhythms. Named an NEA Jazz Master in 2001, Weston recorded the 1999 album of Moroccan-inspired sounds, Spirit! The Power of Music, an innovative and visionary disc that featured the Gnawa Master Musicians of Morocco, who join him at this SFJAZZ concert. Of a date supporting the album, Weston said, “What was so wonderful was that we had three religions—Christianity, Islam and Yoruba—in the music, and the church was packed with people. It was so spiritual.”

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A disciple of Thelonious Monk, Weston has a searching quality in his music, with an accent on celebration. He began recording with Riverside Records in the ‘50s, continued with CTI in the ‘70s, and after a hiatus from recording, resurfaced in the early ‘90s on Antilles and Verve with several excellent albums, including his 1991 masterpiece, The Spirits of Our Ancestors, a double album indebted to his fascination with the African-American confluence of music. (Randy Weston notes by Dan Ouellette)

Dewey Redman performs in SF on Sunday, April 30.

Dewey Redman “75th Birthday Celebration”
Sunday, April 30 • 7PM
Herbst Theatre

“A daredevil with time,...nail[ing] the notes with the offhand sweetness of experience”
—The New York Times

Tenor sax master Dewey Redman returns to the SFJAZZ stage on the cusp of his diamond birthday, ready to showcase the “limitless capacity for improvisational invention” (JazzTimes) that has marked him as a true musician’s musician for four decades in the jazz spotlight. As The New York Times summed up Redman’s limitless powers of invention: “It’s poetry, some of the most cliché-free saxophone playing you’ll hear today. He’s a soulful player, feeling rhythm without strictly delineating it; it’s as if he’s drifting while knowing exactly where he’s going.”

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Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Redman began playing music at age 13, performing on clarinet in his high school marching band—an ensemble that, prophetically, also included a young Ornette Coleman. Following an early career as a schoolteacher in his home state, Redman struck out for San Francisco, where he worked for seven years as a professional saxophonist. In 1967, he reunited with Coleman, joining the alto sax maverick’s group and appearing on classic albums like New York Is Now and Love Call (recorded at the same 1968 sessions) and 1971’s Science Fiction. In addition to other celebrated associations with bassist Charlie Haden and pianist Keith Jarrett, Redman has long distinguished himself as a leader in his own right, both onstage and on discs like The Ear of the Behearer (1973) and The Struggle Continues (1982). In 1998, he joined two other legends of the leading edge, pianist Cecil Taylor and drummer Elvin Jones, on Momentum Space, earning apt praise from JazzTimes as “a graceful anarchist and poet.”