Live At The Five Spot

The scene for Randy Westons Open House was the Five Spot Cafe in Manhattan. Thetime, a rather dreary Monday in the Fall of 1959, and the setting about as wild a sceneas you will ever make.The live performance recording was scheduled for that same evening, but ColemanHawkins was somewhere high in the skies between Chicago and New York; Roy Hayneswas taking a similar route through the sky from Boston, and Wilbur Little and his basswere last heard from in Washington, D.C. Finally, Melba Liston, hospitalized in California,had air-mailed her arrangements for the datebut they had not as yet been delivered. At9:30 p.m. the missing musicians began to gatherKenny Dorham, trumpet in hand,Hawkins and Haynes from their respective flights, Little from his train. Shortly thereafterthe missing arrangements were delivered, and a tall, rather relieved Randy Weston passedout the music. There was no rehearsalvery little warm-up. The results are on thisalbumand you can wrap them up in just two words Fabulous Musicianship.