ORAL HISTORY MAKERS

Our first two oral histories were taken with 2006's Brooklyn History Makers: Charles J. Hamm and Randy Weston.

Acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Randy Weston was born in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.  A disciple of Duke Ellington and his music, his formative years were shaped by his mentorship with Thelonius Monk and he worked with such jazz artists as Kenny Dorham and fellow Brooklynite Cecil Payne. Langston Hughes said, “When Randy Weston plays, a combination of strength and gentleness, virility and velvet, emerges from the keys in an ebb and flow of sound seemingly as natural as the waves of the sea.” Visiting parts of Africa in the early 1960's and finally settling in Rabat,  Morocco in 1968, Weston's artistry became infused with the continent's music, rhythms and spirit.

LISTEN to a clip of Randy Weston talking about growing up as a musician in Brooklyn:

Charles J. Hamm was born in Brooklyn . His great-grand uncle, Father Joseph Fransioli (pictured in the portrait behind Mr. Hamm), came to Brooklyn from Switzerland and established the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service. Hamm 's grandfather, Charles Higgins, donated the statue of Minerva, which stands at the highest point of Greenwood cemetery looking out at the Statue of Liberty, to commemorate the Battle of Long Island. Following family tradition, Hamm has played a pivotal role in Brooklyn's renaissance through his philanthropic work, as CEO of the Independence Community Bank and as founder of the Independence Community Foundation  which focuses on economic, cultural, and educational development in Brooklyn's low-income communities.

LISTEN to Charles J. Hamm talk about how being from Brooklyn shapes his life.

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