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Thursday, October 20, 1988 - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Page llA
THE HOT
Courtney Pine Will Blow
I I 1X0 v^ounney x-ine w iii r»j
I I r ^ At Ovens Auditorium
J It isn't often that the British
press gives enthusiastic cover
age or any coverage at all to a
rising, young British Jazz musi
cian. Courtney Pine has been
called "a player of enormous po
tential" by The Observer, while
The Ciiardian. noting the 22-
year-old saxophonist's unani
mous media accolades, pro
nounced that Pine "has suddenly
shot to as much stardom as you
can get on the Jazz scene this
side of the Atlantic."
iPine showed early promise at
sphool. He honed his technique
on the clarinet, and discovered
ail old saxophone in the cup-
tjoard. He was soon skipping
tjqmework to sit in ■with reggae
arid funk artists, and bands like
Cjllnt Eastwood and Hi Tension.
TJiat he discovered Jazz at all is
due to 'West Coast Jazz photog
rapher William Claxton. Court-
ifey fell in love with the look of
Sonny Rollins in stetson and
gan belt, tenor hooked under his
arm like a Winchester, on the
(•over of 'Way Out West." "At that
^e I didn't know what impro
vising entailed," Courtney re-
(jalls, with a laugh. "1 knew noth
ing at all about chord
substitutions, I Just knew how to
play the Instrument and the C
^harp major scale, and that was
tt. I put the record on and tried
to play what he played, regard
less of whether he was ilatten-
^ig his ninths. I was Ignorant."
■ Rollins led him to John Col-
frane, his other big influence,
4nd to a growing impatience
■{vith what he considered the
Mmitatlons of the reggae circuit,
ideanwhile, his Jazz listening ed
ucation travelled back to Lester
■][pung and Sidney Bechet, and
forward to Albert Ayler.
U'Now the problem was where
h'pd with whom to play. He at
tended a few of drummer John
Stevens' workshops, and sat in
with Stevens' Free Bop outfit,
pine was beginning to have a
name, and when Rolling Stone
Charlie Watts formed his big
band, Courtney was there in the
^ax section with veterans like
Don Weller and Alan Skidmore.
Mis volcanic solos tore up the
Courtney Pine
regulars during the big band's
residence at London's Ronnie
Scott Club.
But Courtney dreamt of more
than being a sldeman. Almost
two years ago he formed an or
ganization called The Ablbl Jazz
Arts as a rallying point for
young, black British musicians
trying to play Jazz or, as Court
ney puts it "Afro-classical mu
sic." Arts Council assistance
(Great Britain's version of the
National Endowment for the
Arts) has not been forthcoming
so far, but the young leader has
set up a nineteen-piece big
band drawn from TAJA enthu
siasts. "We decided to form The
Jazz Warriors to show people
that we can play Jazz, and to get
into the public eye. A lot of the
guys in the big band have come
from reggae and funk, and they
have the same problems that I
had." Every gig so far has been a
sell-out pretty much on word-of-
mouth alone.
ar.
m
M,
The Gyrlz; Terri Robinson (D.Tara Geter (C) and Monica Payne have just made their recording debut.
The Gyrlz Come On With First Album
Terrii Robinson, Tara Geter,
Monica Payne of THE GTTRLZ
that's who! The GYRLZ captured
the attention of the top teen-
dream hearthrob singer and he
convinced them to delay their
own tour to add their voices to
his show (and are in his latest
video). Terri, the lead vocalist,
said, "How could you look into
those eyes and say no." Their
own debut album Ix>ve Me Or
Leave Me. Just out on Capitol
Records, is savvy progressive
R&B music by three young wom
en who write and sing songs
that are a fresh blend of hip-hop
funk dance grooves. Add to that
the production punch of Andre
Harrell, who's also produced
Heavy D & The Boyz and Guy,
and Teddy Riley, who's worked
with Keith Sweat and A1B. Sure!.
In fact. It was Teddy who turned
A1 B. on to THE GYRLZ with
their first single 'Wishing You
Were Here."
For those of you who don't
know who the THE GYRLZ (pro
nounced with the Brooklynese
"goylz") a little history is in order.
A year ago South Carolina na-
Ives Monica and Tara were in
high school and in an all-girl
rap group called Fantasy. One
night the spunlqr twosome met
producer Andre Harrell at a
Heavy D and The Boyz concert —
and treated them to a taste of
their rapping. Harrell liked
what he heard and invited them
to come to NYC to put together a
demo, but suggested they sing
Instead of rap.
Two months later Harrell, a
year behind Tara, graduated
from high school on a Friday,
and by Sunday the two were in
New York City, without the guar
antee of a recording contract.
Andre took them into the studio
with Kyle West, and they record
ed a song. Nothing came of it, so
Tara and Monica flew back
home to South Carolina.
Meanwhile, Andre signed a
management contract with Terri
(who at the time was in a group
called Precise) and wanted to
put her in a new group. A month
later Tara and Monica were
meeting with Terri in NYC. As
Monica says, "It was like we had
known each other forever. We
went into the studio and cut a
demo of It's Over,' and it was Just
JOIN THE
CROWD!
Read
"THE VOICE OF THE
BLACK COMMUNHY'
Pine believes in advancing on
several fronts at once. In addi
tion to The Jazz Warriors,
Courtney also co-leads the all
saxophone quartet. The World's
First Saxophone Posse, and his
own quintet. "Ideally, each band
is suitable for different venues.
WFSP is a chamber band which
I'd like to see in a small room,
the quintet in clubs, and the
Warriors at festivals.
In a remarkably short time, he
has attracted the attention of
touring Americans. Besides be
ing chosen for the George Rus
sell Orchestra tour, Courtney
has sat in with Art Blakey & The
Jazz Messengers at the 1986
Camden Jazz Festival, more
than holding his own in that fast
company. Playing with Blakey
was a dream come true.
"Standing on stage with the Jazz
Messengers? Phew! Art Blakey
gives you support everywhere so
that you can be rhythmically
free. It was like being in a big
blanket. I've never felt like that
before!" He has also sat in over
several nights with Elvin Jones
& The Jazz Machine at Ronnie
Scott's, which has resulted in an
offer to. tour with the combo, fin
ishing up in Japan for a John
Coltrane Memorial concert.
Pine's debut album was re
leased in the autumn of 1986
and entered the British charts
at No. 38, making it the first se
rious Jazz album to make the
British listing. Three months
later Journey To The Urge With
in qualified for the platinum
disc, with UK sales in excess of
60,000. Pine and his regular
quartet have spent most of 1987
touring Britain and Europe, tak
ing a summer hiatus to recor(l a
new album - Destiny's Song
A The Image Of Pursuance.
Destiny's Song, released on An
tilles New Directions, is pro
duced by Delfayo Marsalis,
(younger brother of Branford
and Wynton).
"I believe that West Indian cul
ture — elements of reggae, ca
lypso, church and my parents'
musical tastes like ska — will
come out in our Jazz by osmosis.
I think a black British style is
going to evolve."
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like magic." Terri adds, "The har
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knew right then it was the three
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"because there don.t seem to be
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thing out there right now seems
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in this type of music."
The tour, which runs through
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While you're waiting for them to
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