Now in his seventh decade of jazz performance, the sound of Randy Weston continues to inform and inspire: Few other jazz artists have so effectively incorporated the vast rhythmic heritage of Africa into their music. This week, the great pianist will pilot the well-oiled music machine he calls the African Rhythms Sextet, featuring tenor saxophone great Billy Harper, alto saxophonist TK Blue, and trombonist Robert Trowers (who replaced longtime ARQ member Benny Powell after Powell’s death in 2010 at age 80.) “Weston has the biggest sound of any jazz pianist since Ellington and Monk, as well as the richest and most inventive beat, but his art is more than projection and time; it's the result of a stu­dious and inspired intelligence...an intelligence that is creating a fresh synthesis of African elements with jazz technique.” (Stanley Crouch, Village Voice) Billy Harper – tenor saxophone TK Blue – alto saxophone, flute Randy Weston – piano Alex Blake – bass Neil Clarke – percussion Lewis Nash – drums