[DSD][OF] Randy Weston - Blue Moses - 1972/2013 (Post Bop, Modal Music, Modern Creative, Big Band, Progressive Jazz, African Jazz, World Fusion)

Recorded in 1972, Blue Moses, the most commercially successful album in pianist/composer Randy Weston’s catalogue remains 1 of his most controversial due to his conflicted feelings about the final product, which he feels is too polished & too far from his original intent for the project. Indeed, appearing on Creed Taylor’s CTI imprint was an almost certain guarantee of polished production. Weston plays both acoustic & Rhodes piano here; he was backed by a band of CTI’s star-studded stable: trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, tenor saxophonist Grover Washington, flutists Hubert Laws & Romeo Penque, drummer Billy Cobham, alternate bassists Ron Carter & Bill Wood, & percussionists Phil Kraus, Airto Moreira, & Weston’s son Azzedin. This group was backed by a punchy Don Sebesky-arranged horn section. Blue Moses, consists of 4 compositions; it was an attempt by Weston to showcase the influence “Ganawa” music from Morocco had on him as a composer. “Ganawa (Blues Moses),” with its frenetic, minor-key piano lines, knotty, Middle Eastern-sounding charts, & skittering North African rhythms push the listener into a new space, 1 that stands outside of CTI’s usual frame in, & into, the exotic. The brass is aggressive, & while that might overshadow some recordings of lesser substance, Sebesky knew what he had in Weston’s tunes, & reigned his players in just enough to keep the dynamics fresh, open, & full of engaged call-&-response playing between Weston, Hubbard, & Laws. So too, album closer “Marrakesh Blues,” with wordless backing vocals by Madame Meddah, twinned trumpet & flute lines, gorgeous electric piano solos, & a deep, strolling bassline. It’s an Eastern modal blues with the sound of a horn section to boost its drama.”Night in the Medina” is a labyrinthine, more abstract piece, but utterly atmospheric & colourful in its arrangement, with exciting interplay between Weston’s enormous chords & Washington’s swinging, soulful saxophone & percussion instruments that create a lithe, spiritual jazz groove. No matter how Weston ultimately feels about Blue Moses, this date succeeds on all levels. Creating a commercially viable recording from the elements presented must not have been easy, but Taylor rose to the occasion & delivered a grooving beauty of an album without compromising Weston’s genius.
~ AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek