AFRICAN COOKBOOK by RANDY WESTON

Great album of African-tinged jazz -- recorded privately by Randy Weston in the mid 60s, and not issued formally until 1972 by Atlantic Records! The session shows Weston at the height of his modernist experiments -- and at a time when his work was going largely undocumented, probably because of its progressive nature -- but really flowing out with a rich Africanist inspiration, and served up with even sharper modern edges than before!His group here includes Big Black on congas, Booker Ervin on tenor, and Ray Copeland on trumpet -- and Copeland also arranged all the tracks, transforming a few older numbers with the bolder spirit of the session.