Veryan Weston

Veryan Weston is an English pianist involved with free improvisation, jazz and rock.
Weston moved from Cornwall to London in 1972 beginning a career as a freelance jazz pianist and improviser. In 1979 he was awarded ‘Young Jazz Musician of 1979’ by the Greater London Arts Association.

He is best known for his work with such British avant-garde and jazz musicians as vocalist Phil Minton and saxophonists Lol Coxhill and, for over 40 years, with saxophonist Trevor Watts – an innovator who, in his band Moiré Music, used a unique combination of African rhythmic structures with the European musical tradition.

Weston has recorded for a number of labels, including Emanem, Matchless, Acta, Ogun, and Leo. As well as being a major exponent of free-jazz, Weston is an accomplished mainstream jazz pianist, and has issued recordings that meld elements of modern composition with contemporary improvisation. He also composed and performed music for film, the most notable being his work with Lol Coxhill on director Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio (1986).

In the ’90s, collaborations with Phil Minton included Songs from a Prison Diary (which was awarded the Cornelius Cardew composition prize), a quartet performing extracts from James Joyce’s novel Finnegan’s Wake, and 4Walls with Luc Ex and Michael Vatcher.

Among his notable albums during are the Emanem releases Tessellations for Luthéal Piano (2003), Allusions (2009), and Different Tessellations (2011), as well as several recordings made in his improvisational duo with saxophonist Trevor Watts: 6 Dialogues (2002), 5 More Dialogues (2011), and Dialogues in Two Places (2012).