{"product_id":"montreux_zaragoza_ramatuelle_jazz_festivals_1988","title":"Montreux, Zaragoza \u0026 Ramatuelle Jazz Festivals 1988","description":"\u003cp\u003eRandy Weston \u0026amp; Monty Alexander’s Montreux, Zaragoza \u0026amp; Ramatuelle Jazz Festivals 1988 documents a short European tour that brought together two master pianists with very different yet complementary roots: Weston, the Brooklyn‑born heir to Ellington and Monk with deep connections to African rhythm, and Alexander, the Kingston‑born stylist who carries Caribbean and American swing in his playing. Drawn from previously unreleased live recordings at the Montreux, Zaragoza, and Ramatuelle jazz festivals, the album (about 75 minutes in length) is one of several releases prepared to mark what would have been Weston’s 100th birthday, and it presents the concerts in their original two‑set format. Each show begins with a set where Weston and Alexander perform separately, each accompanied by a percussionist, and concludes with a second set that brings both pianists together onstage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMusically, the recording emphasizes jazz as a dialogue across continents and histories. Weston’s segments foreground his longstanding project of integrating African rhythmic concepts into modern jazz piano, amplified by Ghanaian percussionist Eric Asanté, whose hand drums evoke caravans and ceremonial grooves. Alexander’s sets, with percussionist Bobby Thomas, draw on Jamaican and broader Caribbean rhythms, folding them into fluent straight‑ahead jazz, blues, and standards in a way that feels both relaxed and virtuosic. When the two pianists join forces in the second halves, their “different dialects of the same language” lock into spirited exchanges: call‑and‑response lines, overlapping comping, and shared grooves that underline how their distinct paths still converge on swing, melody, and a deep sense of musical history. The album ultimately plays like a live masterclass in jazz piano and cultural exchange, showing jazz not as a fixed American style but as an ongoing conversation carried by rhythm, memory, and improvisation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Record Store","offers":[{"title":"CD \/ 2CD","offer_id":53423134376250,"sku":"37908","price":62.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Vinyl \/ 2LP","offer_id":53423134474554,"sku":"37909","price":62.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/2041\/0682\/files\/Screenshot_2026-05-08_at_2.30.48_PM.jpeg?v=1780560010","url":"https:\/\/recordstore.ca\/products\/montreux_zaragoza_ramatuelle_jazz_festivals_1988","provider":"Record Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}