Whether it’s in the big tent, in the town hall, you’ve got the old school and the youngsters and everything in between. "I’m very happy to be back again.” Courtney Pine has been influencing British jazz music for the past 30 years, playing at the first ever Jazz Festival in 1996.
“It’s really encouraging for somebody like me to be invited back. Cheltenham has shown a confidence in me, over the many projects I’ve done and if they call I’ll be here” said Courtney. “I know tonight’s event might just seem like a one-off, but this is what we do. This is what I’ve been doing. My whole purpose is to use music to bring people together.”
Courtney’s introduction to jazz started in a record library: “I picked up the best record I saw. Sonny Rollins Way Out West. Sonny was wearing a cowboy Western suit. There’s a cow skull and he’s in the desert and instead of a colt 45, he’s got a tin saxophone.” Courtney is full of life tonight, sporting a spring in his step and a Great Britain hockey shirt. Standing on stage he asks: “Why do you think I’m wearing this top? - Because we are the United Kingdom.” Not afraid to be political, Pine was vocal about both Grenfell Tower and the Win-
drush scandal: “It’s ludicrous and they didn’t think the kids would make some noise. They
thought they’d get away with it, and the folks they picked on are too old to say anything about it. Nobody will say anything. That’s why I needed to, tonight.”
For Courtney, his musical life began at sixth form playing in reggae bands, until his teacher said that: “there wasn’t any point in people like him going to university.” Pine was expelled from his school, but by reading about musicians like Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday and Charles Mingus he was inspired to follow in their steps. He learnt the same way they had, on the road by the age 16. He discovered musicians that shared an interest in his form of expression, he said:
“I was lucky enough to be in the vicinity of some great musicians, who gave me the codes of what being a good musician would be. Some tried to put me off, but I got the bug. I wanted to play jazz.”
He started his career touring with reggae duo Clint Eastwood and General Saint and started up a jazz residency in Brixton from scratch. He explained that 80’s jazz was a
time of exploration and energy, but it was also one of struggle: “There was a lot of nay-
sayers, they were the guys who didn’t want me to play jazz.”
Mostly Courtney spoke fondly of the community aspect; crediting the rise of jazz to DJs, musicians and listeners: “That trio of energy gave birth to something that the media could actually talk about.” This year Courtney is collaborating with Omar, a British soul singer, songwriter and musician. Their new project and album Black Notes from the Deep is available now.