Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964), is a British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the

Jazz Warriors The Jazz Warriors were an English all-black London-based group of jazz musicians, that made its debut in 1986. The idea for the band came from the Abibi Jazz Arts, a London organization that promoted black music and black culture. The Jazz War ...

. Although known primarily for his

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing the

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

and keyboards. On his 2011 album, ''Europa'', he plays almost exclusively bass clarinet.

Background

Pine's parents were Jamaican immigrants, his father a carpenter and his mother a housing manager. As a child, he wanted to be an

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

. Born in London, Pine lived in the ‘Avenues’ area of Kensal Green in north-west London, before moving to

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

and attending

Kingsbury High School (''Let us be judged by our actions'') , established = 1925 , closed = , type = Academy , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headteacher , head = Mr Alex Thomas , r_head_label =Head of S ...

, where he studied classical clarinet, teaching himself the saxophone from the age of 14.

Maya Jaggi Maya Jaggi is a British writer, literary critic , editor and cultural journalist.Maya Jaggi profi ...

"Fusion visionary"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 30 September 2000. He began his music career playing

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, touring in 1981 with

Clint Eastwood & General Saint Clint Eastwood & General Saint were a reggae deejay duo of the early 1980s, consisting of Clint Eastwood (born Robert Anthony Brammer) and General Saint (born Winston Hislop). Eastwood was already an established solo deejay who had recorded se ...

Career

In 1986 Pine's debut album '' Journey to the Urge Within'' entered the UK Top 40. One of his early bands was

Grand Union Orchestra Grand Union Orchestra, also known as The Grand Union, is a multicultural world jazz ensemble based in London. It has been performing, touring and recording large-scale shows for over 30 years and is well known for its educational work. Biography ...

and he featured on their 1986 album ''The Song of Many Tongues'', written by Tony Haynes. He is the principal founder of the seminal black British big band the

, which he established in 1985 through the community organisation "The Abibi Jazz Arts" (TAJA). The Jazz Warriors developed out of the Abibi All-Stars community band that did a series of performances at London's

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

foyer during the summer of the

International Youth Year The year 1985 was proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Youth Year (IYY). It was held to focus attention on issues of concern to and relating to youth. The proclamation was signed on January 1, 1985, by United Nations Secretary Gen ...

1985. The Jazz Warriors recorded two albums under Pine's leadership: ''Out of Many, One People'', which was released on the Antilles division of the

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

label in 1987, and ''Afropeans'', which was released on Pine's own label, Destin-e Records, for their 20th anniversary in 2007. The Jazz Warriors ''Afropeans'' project was commissioned by the Arts Council of England to commemorate the bicentennary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. Thirty years after Pine planted his idea to start the Jazz Warriors, he put together the "Venus Warriors" all-female jazz band for a charity performance to raise awareness of the

Mary Seacole Mary Jane Seacole (;Anionwu E.N. (2012) Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands. ''British Journal of Healthcare Assistants'' 6(5), 244–248. 23 November 1805 – 14 May 1881) was a British-Jamaican nurse and businesswoman who set up t ...

Memorial Statue Appeal, which was established to erect a statue of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

business woman and nurse outside of London's St Thomas's Hospital. His recent music integrates modern British music like drum and bass and

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop, R&B, and jungle. It ...

with contemporary

styles. He runs his own band and integrates many contemporary musicians in his performances. He also presents ''Jazz Crusade'' on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

, the seventh series of which was broadcast during spring 2007. In 1988 he appeared as himself in a jazz quartet in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' serial ''

Silver Nemesis ''Silver Nemesis'' is the third serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 in three weekly parts from 23 November (the 25th anniversary) to 7 ...

''. After losing his record contract, in 1989 Pine appeared on stage with the

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

at Wembley Arena. He played saxophone on the closing portion of their single, Nothing Has Been Proved. Pine was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in 2000, and

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours for services to jazz music. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

on 6 December 2004. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

on 15 July 2010. Pine appeared in August 2008 as an advocate for

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

, on the

BBC World News BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and S ...

classical music programme ''Visionaries''. On Christmas Day 2018 Pine appeared on BBC Two's ''Merry Christmas Baby - with Gregory Porter & Friends''.

Personal life

Pine lives in London with his wife and their four children.

Discography

Albums

As leader * '' Journey to the Urge Within'' (1986) – UK No. 39 * '' Destiny's Song + The Image of Pursuance'' (1988) – UK No. 54 * ''The Vision's Tale'' (1989) * ''Closer To Home'' (1990) * ''Within The Realms of Our Dreams'' (1991) * ''To The Eyes of Creation'' (1992) * '' Modern Day Jazz Stories'' (1995) * ''Underground'' (1997) * ''Back in the Day'' (2000) * ''Devotion'' (2003) * ''Resistance'' (2005) * ''Transition in Tradition: En Hommage a Sidney Bechet'' (2009) * ''Europa'' (2011) * ''House of Legends'' (2012) * ''Song (The Ballad Book)'' (2015) * ''Black Notes From The Deep'' (2017) As sideman *

Mica Paris Michelle Antoinette Wallen (born 27 April 1969), known professionally as Mica Paris (), is an English singer, presenter and actress. Paris was born in Islington in North London, but moved to Brockley, South London, when she was nine. She rel ...

, '' So Good'' (1988) * Trevor Jones, '' Angel Heart (Soundtrack)'' (1987) *

, ''Out of Many, One People'' (1987), ''Afropeans'' (2008) *

Harry Beckett Harold Winston "Harry" Beckett (30 May 1935 – 22 July 2010) was a British trumpeter and flugelhorn player of Barbadian origin. Biography Born in Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados, Harry Beckett learned to play music in a Salvation Army ...

, ''Les Jardins Du Casino'' (1993, ITM)

Singles

* "Children of the Ghetto" (1986) (Courtney Pine featuring the vocal of Susaye Greene) * "

Like Dreamers Do "Like Dreamers Do" is a song written by Paul McCartney in 1959 and is one of the earliest written songs credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was most notably performed by the Beatles at their unsuccessful 1 January 1962 audition for Decca Record ...

" (1988) – UK No. 26 (

featuring Courtney Pine) * "I'm Still Waiting" (1990) – UK No. 66 (Courtney Pine featuring

Carroll Thompson Carroll Thompson is a British lovers rock singer, best known as the "Queen of Lovers Rock" Biography Thompson was born in England and is of Jamaican descent. Thompson undertook classical piano training on the piano and sang in school and chur ...

) * "Get Busy" (1992), produced by Gussie Clarke – 12" vinyl, CD single * "Too Much To Lose" (1999) –

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1946) is an English rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest success in the late 1970s and 1980 ...

, featuring Courtney Pine * "Lady Day (& John Coltrane)" (2000) – Courtney Pine featuring

Lynden David Hall Lynden David Hall (7 May 1974 – 14 February 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who emerged during the late 1990s as part of the neo soul movement. In 1999, he was the first UK performer ever voted "Best Male ...

EPs

* ''Traditions Beckoning'' – 10" limited edition (1988)

References

External links

* – official site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pine, Courtney 1964 births Living people Jazz fusion musicians English jazz saxophonists British male saxophonists English bass clarinetists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Black British musicians English people of Jamaican descent Musicians from London 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century clarinetists 21st-century British male musicians British male jazz musicians Jazz Warriors members