Courtney Pine, CBE (born 18 March 1964), is a British
jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the
Jazz Warriors.[1] Although known primarily for his
saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing the
flute,
clarinet,
bass clarinet and keyboards. On his 2011 album, Europa, he plays almost exclusively bass clarinet.[2]
Background
Pine's parents were
Jamaican immigrants,[3] his father a carpenter and his mother a housing manager. As a child, Pine wanted to be an
astronaut. Born in London, Pine lived in the "Avenues" area of
Kensal Green in north-west London, before moving to
Wembley and attending
Kingsbury High School, where he studied classical clarinet, teaching himself the saxophone from the age of 14.[4] He began his music career playing
reggae, touring in 1981 with
Clint Eastwood & General Saint.[5]
Pine is the principal founder of the seminal black British big band the
Jazz Warriors, which he established in 1985 through the community organisation "The Abibi Jazz Arts" (TAJA).[9] The Jazz Warriors developed out of the Abibi All-Stars community band that did a series of performances at London's
Royal Festival Hall foyer during the summer of the
International Youth Year 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 label in 1987, and Afropeans, which was released on Pine's own label, Destin-e Records, for their 20th anniversary in 2007.[10] 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.[11]
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[12] to raise awareness of the
Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal,[13] which was established to erect a statue of the
British-
JamaicanCrimean War business woman and nurse outside of London's
St Thomas' Hospital.
His recent music integrates modern British music like
drum and bass and
UK garage with contemporary
jazz styles. He runs his own band and integrates many contemporary musicians in his performances. He also presents Jazz Crusade on
BBC Radio 2, the seventh series of which was broadcast during spring 2007.
After losing his record contract, in 1989 Pine appeared on stage with the
Pet Shop Boys at Wembley Arena.[14] He played saxophone on the closing portion of their single, Nothing Has Been Proved.