Event 26
Courtney Pine
Transition in Tradition
– Market Hall
The great Brecon favourite, made a CBE this year, returns with his new project.
'Pine serves up a creole gumbo of Caribbean, Latin and African flavours with the nuanced power to restore the most jaded jazz palate… the Jazz Warrior succeeds in broadening our minds as well as our ears.' BBC Music Magazine
Featured on the recording are guitarist Cameron Pierre, pianist Alex Wilson, electric violinist Omar Puente, double bassist Darren Taylor, and drummer Robert Fordjour, alongside American vibraphonist/Marimba player Stefon Harris, all of whom have succeeded in creating music that is as deep as the legacy of jazz, and as encompassing as the journey from Africa, the Caribbean, South America and Europe can be – in other words, this is the soundtrack to their cultural journey.
A change in instrumentation sees Pine's bass clarinet take centre stage on many occasions, alongside harmonium, castanets and mandolin, and the resulting sound is like no other Courtney Pine record. 'Of course I pay respect to the great Bechet by playing a silver soprano saxophone like his, but there are other flavours like my alto flute playing on The Tale Of Joe Harriott and of course that Caribbean groove.'
It's that very groove that gives this album another of its unique elements, as forays into New Orleans second line beats merge into an old school swing beat, a medium tempo swing smoothly flows into a reggae one drop beat; there is a feeling of continuing movement as each track passes from one place to another. 'I want to show in these compositions how our journey as a culture is constantly in transition, things change in one tune musically just as we do in real life. You can hear this movement especially in Creole Swing or the blazing opener Haiti.'
When asked about the South African tinged tracks ('Afropean' and 'Au Revoir'), that close the album, Pine explains, 'Having worked in the 80s with many of the exiles from apartheid South Africa, these pieces fitted the project perfectly as it was the changes in 1994, when all-inclusive elections occurred for the first time in South Africa, that inspired me to believe in the notion that this world could be a better place to live in.'
Embracing change and unity, allowing for the transition of tradition.
'Pine serves up a creole gumbo of Caribbean, Latin and African flavours with the nuanced power to restore the most jaded jazz palate… the Jazz Warrior succeeds in broadening our minds as well as our ears.' BBC Music Magazine
Featured on the recording are guitarist Cameron Pierre, pianist Alex Wilson, electric violinist Omar Puente, double bassist Darren Taylor, and drummer Robert Fordjour, alongside American vibraphonist/Marimba player Stefon Harris, all of whom have succeeded in creating music that is as deep as the legacy of jazz, and as encompassing as the journey from Africa, the Caribbean, South America and Europe can be – in other words, this is the soundtrack to their cultural journey.
A change in instrumentation sees Pine's bass clarinet take centre stage on many occasions, alongside harmonium, castanets and mandolin, and the resulting sound is like no other Courtney Pine record. 'Of course I pay respect to the great Bechet by playing a silver soprano saxophone like his, but there are other flavours like my alto flute playing on The Tale Of Joe Harriott and of course that Caribbean groove.'
It's that very groove that gives this album another of its unique elements, as forays into New Orleans second line beats merge into an old school swing beat, a medium tempo swing smoothly flows into a reggae one drop beat; there is a feeling of continuing movement as each track passes from one place to another. 'I want to show in these compositions how our journey as a culture is constantly in transition, things change in one tune musically just as we do in real life. You can hear this movement especially in Creole Swing or the blazing opener Haiti.'
When asked about the South African tinged tracks ('Afropean' and 'Au Revoir'), that close the album, Pine explains, 'Having worked in the 80s with many of the exiles from apartheid South Africa, these pieces fitted the project perfectly as it was the changes in 1994, when all-inclusive elections occurred for the first time in South Africa, that inspired me to believe in the notion that this world could be a better place to live in.'
Embracing change and unity, allowing for the transition of tradition.
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