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He's
probably one of the best known jazz musicians in Britain at the
moment. Courtney Pine does a lot to get the jazz message out to
a wider audience. Live performances, a new show called the Jazz
Crusades on Radio 2 and music workshops are all aimed at getting
the message across to as many people as possible.
His
first album was squarely aimed at the commercial market and Pine
has no problem with that. He firmly believes that jazz should be
for all and not just a select crowd of jazz experts.
Pine
is delighted with the way the modern jazz scene is progressing.
It's now at the stage where there are around six jazz orientated
albums that can command a place the top of the national charts.
Making jazz accessible to all is something that Pine describes as
his mission statement and he's happy that it looks like it's being
fulfilled.
Mainstream
success
One
reason for Courtney Pine's mainstream success is probably down to
his crossover work with other artists where he adopts other musical
styles and fuses them with jazz. His album 'Modern Day Jazz Stories'
was notable because it incorporated sampling with DJ Pogo. His style
on that album was influenced by hip-hop and drum and bass beats.
It gave the jazz a more modern and funky flavour.
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The
success of other artists like Jamie Cullum, Katie Melua and Amy
Whitehouse can only be a good thing for the popularity of modern
jazz. Pine offers his view on the strategy that these modern stars
are using to get their music heard. He believes they're not just
putting records out just to be in the charts, rather they're putting
them out so people can get to know who they are and where they offer
musically. Although their music is jazz orientated and success in
the charts is good, their chart music is really out there to increase
their profile around the UK. Establishing yourself in a popular
market is possibly the best way to bring jazz to a mainstream audience.
Pine
says he's lucky that he's still touring and bringing his jazz to
audiences the world over. There are lots of artists out there who
want to play jazz and aren't touring anymore and Pine thinks that's
a shame. To him it's a simple case of perseverance and a love of
performing - he cites the examples of Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis
and Dizzy Gillespie as people who continued to tour for a long time,
taking their music to live audiences.
What's
all this jazz about?
According
to Courtney Pine, jazz is the only music that really represents
our human existence right now. He says other forms of music replicate
a past sound, and he admits some jazz has that but insists that
if you go to a good jazz concert you will hear what's going on right
now. In the sixties there was something called Free Jazz, where
people were into expressing their freedom - an expression of the
time. Now, a lot of musicians are using DJs, using drum and bass
garage beats and even using computers to make music now because
that reflects the current cultural vibe. Pine is adamant that good
jazz should reflect life.
Jazz
is such a wide term that covers a multitude of styles and Pine thinks
that umbrella is something that's very important. He says jazz is
not just about one style of music, it's about the whole thing. Pine
believes that jazz is the only music that can incorporate all other
music styles in the world without watering them down. When you think
about it, you can have a harmonica player playing some blues, you
can have a double bass player from the bebop school, a singer singing
in a country and western style, a bit of piano and then you've got
Norah Jones - that's the beauty of jazz.
Pine
wants people to get away from the notion that jazz is something
that's played by 'that geezer around the corner in the wine bar'.
He insists that it's not just one style and the likes of Norah Jones
confirms that.
Jazz
got hold of Courtney Pine at an early age and has given him a lifestyle
that's allowed him to meet the Queen and travel around the world
several times. He's a musician who loves performing and the sheer
number of people who turn up to see him play is a testament to his
jazz philosophy. None of them go away disappointed either.
 Audio:
The
Courtney Pine interview
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out how to get it for free
More:
Courtney
Pine @ Cheltenham 2004
Article
by Nic Baddeley
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Courtney
Pine at the 2004 Cheltenham Jazz Festival
Saxophonist
Courtney Pine spoke to us in an exclusive interviewed before he took
to the stage at the 2004 Cheltenham International Jazz Festival.
