Courtney Pine in Manila

Mention of the name Courtney Pine now carries the prestigious three letters O.B.E. – Order of the British Empire, an award given to British citizens in recognition of their exemplary contributions to various fields of endeavor. In Pine’s case, he received his during the 2000 New Year’s Honors in recognition of his extraordinary career and his contribution to the black community and to the development of jazz music, not only in Britain but all over the world.

Now, while I am an admirer of Miles Davis and Winston Marsalis for their remarkable technique and outstanding musicality, I am totally lost in fusion and acid jazz. The most avant-garde I get in jazz is with John Coltrane. If I were in London, my jazz joint would be the Ronnie Scott Club with Stacey Kent singing Gershwin or Rodgers and Hart. On the other hand though, I am also always open to new and exciting ideas, particularly when these have something to do with music. And that is how I regard the music of Courtney Pine, something to listen to and keep tabs on as it grows in popularity and evolves into what will be its true nature over time.

Jazz, I believe, is the granddaddy of R&B. But so many changes have happened to the music over the years that these two have now become unrecognizable as relatives. Courtney Pine though believed otherwise. A lot of jazz remained in R&B and its cousin hip hop and he proved himself right. Pine, a talented instrumentalist who plays the flute and the sax in a manner that has been compared to the great Coltrane, took to the dance floor with a shocking mix of jazz and hip hop during the mid-’80s. To top it all he also included electronic sampling, plus all those turntable tricks DJs do in rap albums.

Purists had a field day with the new music but the kids, who probably did not care at all about what sacrilege Pine had committed, loved it. They danced to it in the clubs and made the album Journey to the Urge Within, by the Jazz Warriors, a group founded by Pine, the first jazz album ever to hit the UK Top 40. Pine brought jazz up-to-date with the new generation with his music and his success spelled a breakthrough for the black musician in the once white-dominated British music scene. Soon he was also cracking in the US charts and I recall that even local bands were trying to get their handle on the new music that has come to be known as the remake of the ’70s phenomenon acid jazz.

We feel honored that Courtney Pine should choose to visit Manila and give local music lovers and our musicians a really close look at his kind of music. Don’t forget to check out his one-night only performance in Manila at the Crossroads Convenarium in Quezon City on Thursday, Nov. 13. The show features not only Pine and his group but also top Filipino artists Mon David, Tots Tolentino, Jay Cayuca, Colby de la Calzada, Boyet Pigao, Joey Quirino and Egay Avenir, all formerly of Jazz Fiesta plus the horn section of Ugoy-Ugoy and well-known pop stars Bituin Escalante, Chad Borja, Cookie Chua and Noel Cabangon as guest vocalists.

Pine, who will be coming in after a club tour of Japan will also conduct a workshop organized by the Philippine Jazz Society at the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music earlier in the day on Nov. 13 and promote his latest album titled Devotion.

Teach Me Tonight

Also from the UK is the sexy Teach Me Tonight collection. The album is made up of light and jazzy renditions of some of the most romantic songs ever written as performed by some of Britain’s best known jazz talents of today. The really great thing about it is that it has 14 cuts of superior quality but sells for only P300. This is one well-produced compilation that is easy on the budget and will also serve as a great sampler for somebody who is just beginning to get into jazz.

I quite adore Joe Lee Wilson’s version of the Sergio Mendez classic So Many Stars, a song that people should listen to more often and Larry Gales’ wonderful interpretation of Monk’s Round Midnight. The other tunes included are A Time for Love by Jamie Cullum, the kid who was dubbed Sinatra in Sneakers, Never Let Me Go by Irene Kral, It’s Easy to Remember by Stacey Kent, California Dreamin’ by Clare Teal, Someone to Watch Over Me by Tierney Sutton, Waiter the Check by Nicki Leighton-Thomas and others.