Category Archives: NY Musicians

Jazz Ladies – Part 1: Emily Remler

 “In her brief ten year span as a recording artist (ending with her death at the age of 32 in 1990), Emily Remler not only proved that a female jazz guitarist could be the technical equal of any male counterpart, but also that she possessed the intensity and conviction of a true leading musical voice. Her early departure from the scene is tragic, and her legacy as both an artist and a person should be forever maintained in our collective memory.” –  Roger Blanc (MFM Board member, guitarist and composer)

Text by Dawoud Kringle

Most of you who read this are musicians. You can probably name a good number of female musicians. Maybe you are a female musician.

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News From L’Ecole Fula Flute (Guinea) by Sylvain Leroux

My dear MFM Family and MFM supporters,

It’s November, and once again, I appeal to you to support our school for another year.

Thanks to your help, we have come a long way from our humble beginnings in a public hangar to our now secure house and courtyard which is every day humming with activity.

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Randy Weston Remembered: A Master Musician Who Travelled the Bridge Between Africa and America

Text by By Dawoud Kringle

Randy WestonOn the morning of September 1st, 2018, pianist and composer Randy Weston was called home.

Randy Weston was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926. to Vivian (née Moore; a native of Virginia) and Frank Weston (of Jamaican-Panamanian descent, who owned a restaurant in Brooklyn where Weston was raised). His father was a staunch Garveyite, who passed on the Pan-Africanist leader’s Afrocentric, self-reliant values to his son. He became interested in music at a young age. Among his early influences and inspirations were jazz giants such as Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Art Tatum, and Duke Ellington. He would often cite Thelonious Monk as having the greatest impact on him.

After serving in the US armed forces in WW2, taking time to study European classical piano, and later running a restaurant (which was frequented by many jazz musicians), Weston began performing in  the late 1940s with Bullmoose Jackson, Frank Culley and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson. He worked with Kenny Dorham in 1953 and in 1954 with Cecil Payne. He formed his own trio and quartet and released his debut recording as a leader in 1954, “Cole Porter in a Modern Mood.” In 1955, Down Beat magazine’s International Critics’ Poll voted him New Star Pianist.

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On the Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats Trip to Cuba – An Unforgettable Experience

Congratulations to the Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats on their successful trip. Truly an unforgettable experience!

Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats

Photography by David Garten

Earlier this Summer, a group of students, parents and supporting staff of the Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats went on their first-ever trip to Havana, Cuba, after being invited to participate in an international youth jazz band exchange event.

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