Randy Weston at the Berkshire Museum May 29, 2010

UPDATE: WAMC's interview with Randy Weston has been scheduled for the station's Performance Place segment this Friday, May 28, at 11:33am. Find a station or listen to the live stream: wamc.org.

BerkshiresJazz presents Randy Weston in concert at the Berkshire Museum, (directions to Berkshire Museum) in Pittsfield, MA on Saturday May 29, 2010, 8PM. Advance tickets $20; $25 at the door. For more information call the Berkshire Museum at 413-443-7171. Randy Weston meets the media in a panel discussion at 2:30pm, also at the Berkshire Museum. The media panel is free and open to the public, regardless of whether you have a ticket for the evening performance.

About Randy Weston

After nearly a 10-year absence, NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston returns to the place of his discovery, The Berkshires, for a career retrospective. Employed as a young cook in Lenox, Massachusetts, Weston would often walk over to the renowned jazz resort/retreat called Music Inn, where he would play the piano after hours. Proprietress Stephanie Barber encouraged the young Brooklynite to pursue a career in music, and pursue he did. With a jazz resume that spans some 55 years, Weston has dozens of recordings and compositions to his name. Here is a clip from Randy's days at the Music Inn, Lenox (this clip comes from the Music Inn Film, courtesy of Barenholtz Productions:[flashvideo file=https://berkshiresjazz.org/video/rw-music-inn.mp4 /]As a budding professional jazz pianist, and as an accomplished world traveler and performer, Weston frequently stayed in the Berkshires for rest and creative inspiration. The Berkshires’ special place in his heart is reflected in the name of perhaps his most famous composition, Berkshire Blues, which has become a jazz standard.His awards and distinctions are many, and were capped in 2001 with his designation as a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. He reflects on his musical groundings in a special concert, accompanied by bassist Alex Blake, at the Berkshire Museum on Saturday, May 29.

Video: Randy Weston African Rhythm Trio

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y390lxxrjY[/youtube]
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