A Chance to Not Like Jazz

Icon of the British Jazz Scene, Courtney Pine, performs for All at this year’s Festival Opening Night

Jazz has always been a part of Bath’s International Music Festival and this year, the world renowned saxophonist, Courtney Pine is headlining the opening night.  Since he first performed at the Festival 20 years ago, much has changed in the British jazz music scene.  His involvement throughout its evolution has helped make the genre more accessible to a much wider audience than ever before. 
Today, when Amy Winehouse or Jamie Callum makes a record, it’s sure to hit the top ten, but when Courtney Pine originally came to Bath in 1987, his album ‘Journey to the Urge Within’ was the first serious jazz work ever to make the British top forty.  Until then, though accepted as an important influence on mainstream artists like the Beatles, Eric Clapton and Paul Weller, it was still seen as a minority afro-American art form; incidental background music of little importance.

Since then, Courtney Pine has been awarded an OBE and honorary doctorate as well as being made a Professor of Music.  But how did the young Courtney, son of Jamaican immigrants, first discover what would become his life’s passion?  
            Born in 1964 and brought up in a one bedroom flat in Paddington, London, his first musical influences were the ska and bluebeat sounds of the late 50’s and early 60’s.  It was music his parents had enjoyed in their youth and played on the family gramophone.  But it was the ‘B’ sides of those vinyl discs that he later learned to be recordings of jazz soloists, which Courtney found of interest.  He first heard about jazz as a young teenager and liked the idea of music being an independent means of self-expression.   This was probably unusual for a pupil at a tough inner-city school where it was common to get beaten up by bigger boys during harsh games at break time. 
‘I wanted to play the saxophone and knew that I could practise during break,’ he says.  ‘The problem was that there were only two in the school and so I had to start with the clarinet which, of course, no-one else wanted.’
            His first memory of listening to a jazz virtuoso and recognising its importance was when he heard an instrumental version of Billy Joel’s ‘Just the Way You Are’ by saxophonist, Grover Washington Junior           
‘I turned round to my dad,’ Courtney remembers.  ‘And I said: ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.  This is what I want to be.’ 

His father didn’t believe him and given that there were no other family members in the music business, both parents were wary about his ambition.  Nevertheless, they could see his enthusiasm and although they didn’t appreciate ‘the noise’ he made, they were aware that music is another language.  Like all parents, they wanted the best for their child and knew that learning to play an instrument was a skill that could be beneficial to his personal growth.  To this day, they still don’t think that their son’s musical career is really a proper job.  But ever since he discovered how wonderful listening to good jazz made him feel, Courtney was determined to become a performer himself.
            Although he admits it wasn’t easy, he does think he was lucky in finding other musicians to play with who were in a similar position.  As an aspiring performer, he made sure he practised enough, researched for auditions and joined a band.
His first professional gig was at a reggae extravaganza in Brighton as part of an ensemble called Black Harmony.  He was still a teenager and a school prefect at the time but clearly remembers the thrill of the occasion; the excitement and buzz of being on stage and playing an instrument that brought pleasure to others.  Although the promoter of the event disappeared with all the takings, the experience reaffirmed Courtney’s desire to earn his living from making music.
            In his early professional days it was common for jazz musicians to perform in pubs and simply earn a percentage of the door takings.  Courtney however made the decision to play in venues that offered popular music and reggae as well as a fixed fee. One of his regular gigs at the beginning of his solo career was a residency in Brixton.           
‘Within 3 months, we were selling out the place,’ he says.  ‘And I had ten record companies offering me contracts.’  But all but one of them wanted him to cross over from straight jazz into more popular forms of contemporary music.  This wasn’t what he had in mind.  He wanted to be true to himself, rather than an imitation of someone else.  Although he recognises that taking the well-trodden path to success through disco or American bee-bop may have been easier, he was determined to stick to his own route.  And to stay in the UK to do it.  He believes that good jazz is a reflection of life and given that his life was here in Britain, this was where he was keen to get the music more widely acknowledged.
It is only recently that jazz has become a genre that can be financially rewarding.  Courtney Pine may not personally have had a top ten hit but few would question his success in paving the way for younger artists like Jamie Callum.  And despite writing film scores and presenting popular radio programmes, he still thinks he has further to go to reach wider audiences and would like to host a regular TV slot.  Although he wanted to become successful and believes the fact that he’s survived so long is a sign of success, fame was never an objective.
‘My aim has always been for everyone in the UK to be able to decide that they don’t like jazz, he says.  ‘But only after they have listened to it.’  And that is just what is being offered to us all, free of charge, on the Festival’s opening night - the chance to not like jazz.

© Judith Cameron