The Spirits of Our Ancestors (album)

The Spirits Of Our Ancestors is an album by pianist, Randy Weston, and was recorded in 1991. While all of the compositions (with the exception of one traditional Moroccan song) were penned by Weston himself, the music on the album is more specifically a collaborative arranging effort between Weston and arranger Melba Liston. The music on Spirits is played by an all-star cast of well known musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Pharoah Sanders, Dewey Redman, Idris Muhammad, and Idrees Sulieman.

Spirits was originally intended to be a grand culmination of Weston's experience living in and absorbing the music of Morocco. The album was to be recorded with the local musicians he had been exposed to on location in Morocco; however, due to the onset of the Gulf War around the time of recording, they decided to relocate to New York. This change of plans did not affect the authenticity of the music. The main focus of the album, as stated in the liner notes is to "...pay homage to our musical predecessors, " and to "celebrate the universal musical language that transcends race, color, and nationality. "

Tracklisting

 * 1) "African Village Bedford-Stuyvesant" 3:21
 * 2) "The Healers" 10:48
 * 3) "African Cookbook" 17:16
 * 4) "La Elaha-Ella Allah/Morad Allah" (traditional) 6:43
 * 5) "The Call" 6:12
 * 6) "African Village Bedford-Stuyvesant 2" 8:30
 * 7) "The Seventh Queen" 16:28
 * 8) "Blue Moses" 12:01
 * 9) "African Sunrise" 19:54
 * 10) "A Prayer For Us All"

Personnel

 * Randy Weston - piano
 * Yassir Chadly - vocals, percussion
 * Talib Kibwe - alto saxophone, alto flute
 * Pharoah Sanders - tenor saxophone, gaita
 * Billy Harper, Dewey Redman - tenor saxophone
 * Dizzy Gillespie, Idrees Sulieman - trumpet
 * Benny Powell - trombone
 * Alex Blake, Jamil Nasser - bass
 * Idris Muhammad - drums
 * Big Black, Azzedin Weston - percussion


 * Arrangements by Melba Liston