Courtney Pine example essay

Evaluate Courtney Pine’s use of musical elements in the three songs you have
studied from ‘Back in the Day’ (2000) with particular reference to how he has fused
jazz with other musical styles. Refer to other relevant works – wider listening,
other set works etc.

Courtney Pine is one of the most successful contemporary jazz musicians in Britain.
He was born in 1964 in Britain to Jamaican parents – the musical styles of Jamaica
and also black American styles have had an influence on his work. His main jazz
influences are artists such as Miles Davis (a jazz trumpeter known for his
experimentation with form and harmonic structure and extended playing
techniques), John Coltrane (a bebop/hardbop jazz saxophonist who pioneered free
jazz and the use of modes) and Sonny Rollins (a very influential American tenor sax
player know as the world’s greatest improviser). He grew up on housing estates and
he once said: ‘Jazz has always been about fusion. In housing estates you hear reggae,
techno, classical: you walk through a flat and hear a random mix. But it becomes
harmonious, like mixing cultures to get something different, shocking and
stimulating. I’d get home from a jazz gig and play ska. I made a conscious effort to
fuse the two, to inspire myself again.’ He has achieved more commercial success
than most of his contemporaries in the field because he fuses jazz with other styles
such as soul, reggae, calypso, hip-hop, rap, rhythm and blues, modern r’n’b and
commercial pop. He is also a multi-instrumentalist – plays soprano and tenor sax,
flute and bass clarinet, keyboards, programs drum patterns and is also a DJ and
turntablist.

‘Back in the Day’ was released in 2000. It was the 8 th album produced and mixed by
Courtney Pine who plays many instruments on it such as tenor and soprano saxes,
flute, bass clarinet, keyboard and programmed drums. Three of the album’s 15
tracks make up the set works. Two of these are cover versions: ‘Lady Day’ and (John
Coltrane) is originally by Gil Scott-Heron (1971) and ‘Love and Affection’ by Joan
Armatrading (1976). ‘Inner State of Mind’ is an original composition though it
borrows musical quotations from George Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ and Miles
Davis’s ‘So What’. The album illustrates a style of jazz that draws from a diverse
range of influences including blues, soul, reggae, rhythm and blues, urban r’n’b, hip-
hop and rap to create a unique musical voice. As the root of many of the styles that
influenced Pine is in black American music it is natural that the Blues plays a large
part in Pine’s overall sound as it was the basis for so many styles that influenced him.
There are Blues inflections in the chord progressions, in added or extended chords
and Blues notes are used melodically and harmonically even in songs that are less
Blues inspired. This work also shows how the style of jazz fusion has developed
from the 1960s until the present day when artist such as Weather Report, Miles
Davis, Spyro Gyra and Robert Glasper would fuse jazz with other musical styles such
as Latin, rock, funk and hip-hop, creating new and diverse musical styles.
Sonorities
Lady Day and (John Coltrane)
The song is fairly faithful to the original in that it adopts the same overall style of jazz
fused with Blues and soul though it also explores more contemporary timbres more
associated with hip hop. This song features Blues singer Lynden David Hall on vocals
and backing vocals (multitracked) and Courtney Pine on tenor sax who plays short
phrases between vocal phrases and also contributes solos. The sax playing is
particularly virtuosic and uses many extended techniques such as glissandos, note
bending, chromatic runs, multiphonics, key-clicking and lip vibrato. Pine’s virtuosic
sax playing is undoubtedly influenced by performers such as John Coltrane (‘Giant
Steps’) and Sonny Rollins (‘St Thomas’), who are known for having developed jazz
saxophone technique to new levels in the 1950s and 60s. Pine has also
acknowledged the great influence of Miles Davis, a trumpeter and exponent of free
and avant-garde jazz, who was especially noted for exploring and developing new
playing techniques and pushing the instrument to new limits. The keyboard
instruments used (as evidenced on the CD sleeve notes) are a Hammond B3 organ
with a Leslie Speaker to give a tremolo/vibrato effect, and a Fender Rhodes electric
piano (also on the original track). These instruments are common in 1970s funk and
soul - used by artists such as Stevie Wonder (‘You are the Sunshine of my life’) and
Herbie Hancock (‘Watermelon Man’). There are rhythm and bass guitars as in the
original and the rhythm guitar is playing high funky chords rather similar to other
funk guitarists such as Nile Rogers (Chic) in the song ‘Good Times’. The drums are
both live and programmed. Sampling (such as news broadcasts) is used at the start
of the song where there are lots of overlapping electronic sounds (which are also
used at the end) and some turntable effects (used at various times during the track)
which shows the influence of hip-hop such as DJ Jazzy Jeff. Jay-Z is a contemporary
artist known for his use of sampling as shown in the song ‘Show me what you got’
(2006) though the Sugar Hill Gang were sampling Chic bass lines much earlier than
this. Various production and mixing techniques are used which create a more
contemporary sound than the original track. For example the keyboards and backing
vocals are heavily panned to create a wide stereo field. EQ is used to give a muffled
start, lacking high frequencies. This also happens part way through the track to mark
the start of a new section. Reverb is used on the vocals and sax particularly to give a
spacious sound. A reverse cymbal sound is used to show transitions to new sections
– in the same way that it is frequently used in club dance music such as Robert Miles
‘Children’.
Inner State of Mind
The song is fuses elements of jazz, be-bop, rap, hip-hop, Blues and soul. This song
features jazz singer Eska Mtungwazi on vocals and backing vocals (multitracked) and
Courtney Pine on tenor and soprano sax and briefly on flute. The sax playing is
particularly virtuosic and uses many extended techniques such as glissandos, note
bending, chromatic runs, long portamentos, scoops, many blues notes, and finishes
with a long, high trill. Pine’s virtuosic sax playing is undoubtedly influenced by
performers such as John Coltrane (‘Giant Steps’) and Sonny Rollins (‘St Thomas’),
who are known for having developed jazz saxophone technique to new levels in the
1950s and 60s. Pine has also acknowledged the great influence of Miles Davis, a
trumpeter and exponent of free and avant-garde jazz, who was especially noted for
exploring and developing new playing techniques and pushing the instrument to new
limits. The keyboard instruments used (as evidenced on the CD sleeve notes) are a
Hammond B3 organ with a Leslie Speaker to give a tremolo/vibrato effect, and a
Fender Rhodes electric piano (also on the original track). These instruments are
common in 1970s funk and soul - used by artists such as Stevie Wonder (‘You are
the Sunshine of my life’) and Herbie Hancock (‘Watermelon Man’). There are rhythm
and bass guitars as in the original and the rhythm guitar is playing high funky chords
rather similar to other funk guitarists such as Nile Rogers (Chic) in the song ‘Good
Times’. The drums are programmed by Pine. There is some use of scat singing in
the vocal part, which bears some resemblance to Ella Fitzgerald’s and Louis
Armstrong’s extensive use of this technique in the 1920s and 30s. There is further
influence of older jazz styles in that there is a traditional jazz horn section of
trumpet, trombone and saxophone – typical of a big band and also a be-bop
ensemble line up. Sampling (such as the distorted guitar sample at the start, dubbed
voices and random background sounds) is used and some turntable effects (such as
scratching by DJ Pogo used at various times during the track) which shows the
influence of hip-hop such as DJ Jazzy Jeff. Jay-Z is a contemporary artist known for
his use of sampling as shown in the song ‘Show me what you got’ (2006) though the
Sugar Hill Gang were sampling Chic bass lines much earlier than this. Rapped vocals
(Blak Twang and MC Mello) also show the influence of rap and hip-hop. Various
production and mixing techniques such as use of panning, EQ and reverb are used
which create a more contemporary sound than the original track. The production of
interesting and fresh sounding jazz cover versions of other songs is something that
an even more recent jazz musician, Robert Glasper, has explored with his cover of
‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ - a relaxed jazz rendition with sophisticated harmonies and
the use of a vocoder.
Love and Affection
The song is fairly faithful to the original in that it adopts the same overall style of
pop/soul fused with some elements of Blues. It is definitely less jazz influenced than
the other two songs. This song features R’n’B singer Kele Le Roc on vocals and the
London Community Gospel Choir on backing vocals (male and female singers in
octaves) and Courtney Pine on tenor sax and, unusually, on bass clarinet. The sax
playing still fairly virtuosic though doesn’t use as many extended techniques as the
other two tracks. The use of the gospel choir is similar to the music produced by
American gospel choir Sounds of Blackness, such as their song ‘Optimistic’. Pine’s
virtuosic sax playing is undoubtedly influenced by performers such as John Coltrane
(‘Giant Steps’) and Sonny Rollins (‘St Thomas’), who are known for having developed
jazz saxophone technique to new levels in the 1950s and 60s. Pine has also
acknowledged the great influence of Miles Davis, a trumpeter and exponent of free
and avant-garde jazz, who was especially noted for exploring and developing new
playing techniques and pushing the instrument to new limits. On this track, there is
quite a lot of growling in places, which is more of a rock saxophone technique used
by saxophonists such as Clarence Clemons of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. The
saxophone in this context is treated much like a lead guitar so has a more aggressive
sound. The use of the bass clarinet is not usual for jazz/popular music but also
becoming more common. Players such as bass player Marcus Miller use it quite a lot
– for example on his version of ‘Layla’ with Eric Clapton, and the saxophonist
Shabaka Hutchings has used it on several albums. There are rhythm and bass guitars
as in the original, though the rhythm guitar is slightly distorted in this version, which
can clearly be heard in the Intro arpeggiated chord. The drums are live as they are
in the original. Synth strings are also used and have some of the only Blues notes on
the track. Synth strings were often used in funk, disco and soul songs in the 1970s
and 80s such as ‘Le Freak’ by Chic and ‘I will survive’ by Gloria Gaynor. This also
happens part way through the track to mark the start of a new section. Reverb is
used on the vocals and sax particularly to give a spacious sound and panning is used
to maximise the stereo field.

Textures
Lady Day and (John Coltrane)
The main texture on this song is melody-dominated homophony, in keeping with
most pop songs where the vocals are the focus. As the song is heavily reliant on riffs
there is a riff-based texture throughout which is very similar to pop and soul songs of
the time when the original was written, such as ‘Good Times’ by Chic. There is some
use of homorhythm and close harmony e.g. in bar 21 and also dialogue between
vocal and sax which is typical of a lot of Blues and rhythm and blues music such as
Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘I’m Leavin You’ where the lead guitar is used as the dialogue
instrument with the voice.
Inner State of Mind
The main texture on this song is melody-dominated homophony, in keeping with
most pop songs where the vocals are the focus. As the song is heavily reliant on riffs
there is a riff-based texture throughout which is very similar to pop and soul songs of
the time when the original was written, such as ‘Good Times’ by Chic. There is some
use of homorhythm and close harmony e.g. right at the start with the ‘Inner State of
Mind’ motif in close harmony vocals and also in the horns on the ‘So What’ motif –
which is just like the original Miles Davis song with the same name. There is also a
rap and homophonic accompaniment, similar to Jay-Z’s ‘Show me what you got’. A
second vocalist adds emphasis on key words in the rap. There are some broken
chords in the piano part at times which varies the accompaniment. There are also
parts where the groove breaks down at the start of new sections which is typical of
rap and hip hop.
Love and Affection
The main texture on this song is melody-dominated homophony, in keeping with
most pop songs where the vocals are the focus. As the song is heavily reliant on riffs
there is a riff-based texture throughout which is very similar to pop and soul songs of
the time when the original was written, such as ‘Good Times’ by Chic. A more
complicated contrapuntal texture emerges towards the end of the song when the
synth strings enter which is reminiscent of synth string lines in songs such as ‘I will
survive’ by Gloria Gaynor.
Structure
Lady Day and (John Coltrane)
The structure of the song is basically the same as the original which is a modified and
extended 12 bar Blues form (common in rhythm and blues numbers such as Howlin
Wolf’s ‘I’m Leavin You’)where the last section of the Blues sequence (starting with
the Gm chord) feels more like a Chorus and the sections with Cm and Fm chords feel
more like a verse. There is a short Intro, after which the Blues structure (Verse
Chorus) occurs with an extended sax solo in the middle (in the original this is a
keyboard solo on the Fender Rhodes). There is also an extended Outro which
includes a slower rubato section.
Inner State of Mind
This song has a more freely evolving structure based on two unifying motifs which
are the ‘Inner State of Mind’ motif – an ascending 5 note vocal motif which opens
the song, and the ‘So What’ motif – a descending two-note horn motif derived from
Miles Davis’s piece ‘So What’ from his album ‘Kind of Blue’ (1959). Instrumental,
vocal and rap sections alternate throughout the piece. This kind of structure is
popular in funk songs such as those by Chic and Funkadelic where the structure is
more dependent on repeating riffs.
Love and Affection
This song sticks fairly faithfully to the original. It is a freely evolving riff based song.
It starts with a slow Intro until bar 31, and then the main section is introduced.
There is a middle 8 and other contrasting sections include a sax solo (which is
basically the same as the original). The structure and texture grow more complex
towards the end with polyphonic improvisations and the entry of the synth strings.
This kind of structure is popular in funk songs such as those by Chic and Funkadelic
where the structure is more dependent on repeating riffs.

Melody
Lady Day and (John Coltrane)
The melody in this song is characterised by fairly narrow range vocal lines based
around the interval of a minor third, as this is also true of the original song. There
are leaps at the end of the vocal phrases and some vocal improvisations e.g. the
melisma in the Introduction which feature Blues notes and are typical of jazz/soul
style singing e.g. Stevie Wonder, Gil Scott Heron and others. Throughout the song
there are many examples of Blues note – essentially the C Blues scale is used. In the
sax part however, the melody is much more virtuosic and wide ranging with intricate
improvisations, chromaticism, runs, lip vibrato, pitch bends, chromatic scale
passages, portamento, multiphonics, key clicks, fall-offs, slides, scoops, wide and
altissimo ranges all of which are similar to the technical virtuosity of such players as
John Coltrane (‘Giant Steps’) and Sonny Rollins (‘St Thomas’) although Pine pushes
the boundaries of sax technique even further in this song.
Inner State of Mind
The most notable features of the melody are the phrases borrowed from other
songs. There is a melodic phrase dominated by minor 3rds which is borrowed from
Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ at the start of the lead vocal part. There is also a
prominent descending two-note motif borrowed from Miles Davis’s ‘So What’. Both
of these phrases deliberately pay tribute to jazz, which has been a huge influence on
Pine. Other features include the recurring five-note ascending phrase ‘Inner State of
Mind’ which unifies the piece and is heard in the a cappella harmony vocals at the
start. Much of the melody depends on repetition of short motifs. Vocals there are
many improvised parts, including scat singing (similar to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis
Armstrong’s technique), and melismas e.g. on ‘power’ which is typical of jazz. The
guitar plays some fingerstyle melodic phrases (similar to funky phrases in the music
of groups such as Chic, played by Nile Rogers). The use of Blues notes is evident
throughout the piece, which is essentially melodically based around the Cm Blues
scale/minor pentatonic. The sax solo especially sounds Blues inspired with some use
of the C Dorian mode, high portamento, chromatic runs, pentatonic passages,
bent/Blues notes, scoops and a long high trill to finish with. Melodically this style is
similar to that of saxophonists such as John Coltrane in ‘Giant Steps’ (1960).
Love and Affection
The melody in this song is dominated by the title hook, which recurs throughout.
The use of a title hook is very common in funk and soul songs such as ‘Good Times’
by Chic. There are many instances of repeated notes in the vocal line e.g. “really
love” and in the Middle 8 and generally the lead vocal is quite conjunct. The
improvised vocal parts rise to a higher range and include Blues notes, as does the
descending synth string passage (minor pentatonic), though a straightforward E
major scale is more of a melodic basis than a Blues scale in this song. The melismas
in the song are typical of gospel and soul such as Whitney Houston and even more
recently Rihanna. The bass clarinet has a lower range and is quite chromatic. The
sax solo is predictably wider ranging but less extensive and virtuosic than the other
songs because it sticks fairly closely to the original.

Rhythm
Lady Day and (John Coltrane)
Rhythmically this is a real fusion of hip-hop, fast rock/funk and even drum and bass.
It starts with a downtempo hip-hop style drum sample (which is actually the ‘Amen
Break’ from the group the Winstons slowed down to half time) with other sampled
sounds which sound really lo-fi then quickly moves into a fast rock tempo (160
crotchets per min) with a bit of a drum and bass feel and a strong 4/4 beat. This is
actually fairly similar to the original song. There is lots of syncopation with a sense of
always pushing forward with ties across the bar, just as in the original and also in
songs such as ‘Se Quema la Chumbamba’ (Familia Valera Miranda), which has an
anticipation bass line. There is a rhythmically active vocal line that mainly features
crotchets and quavers with lots of syncopation. Scotch snaps are quite common
which give it an improvised feel. The most rhythmically intricate part is the sax part,
especially in the solo with dotted and syncopated rhythms, short notes and irregular
groupings and long sustained notes. This level of rhythmic complexity is typical of
jazz solos such as John Coltrane’s in the song ‘Giant Steps’. Interestingly, the final
section is a slower rubato section where the drums stop and there is a change to 2/4
for 1 bar, possibly to accommodate the rubato of the sax part, which is clearly an
improvisation with a free rhythmic feel. In a sense this is like the final section of Kate
Bush’s ‘And Dream of Sheep’, which has a dream-like rubato feel with irregular
rhythms and metre changes.
Inner State of Mind
This song has a hip-hop/rock hybrid feel with a fairly straight 4 in a bar with a
reasonably fast 114 crotchets per minute. The rhythm is extremely syncopated
throughout and ties across the rhythm forward in the piano part, just as in songs
such as ‘Se Quema la Chumbamba’ (Familia Valera Miranda), which has an
anticipation bass. Syncopation in this song is especially strong on bass and
turntables. The guitar has funk style strumming similar to Nile Rogers’ style of
playing on Chic songs such as ‘Good Times’. The rap is particularly rhythmically
complex and contains a lot of cross rhythms – this is typical of songs such as ‘Show
me what you got’ by Jay-Z. The most rhythmic complexity can be found in the sax
solos with lots of irregular groupings, demisemiquavers, quintuplets, Scotch snaps
and syncopations. This level of rhythmic complexity is typical of jazz solos such as
John Coltrane’s in the song ‘Giant Steps’.
Love and Affection
This is slightly slower and more of a straightforward rock tempo at 86 crotchet beats
per minute. This is only established after an opening rubato section in 4/4 time for
12 bars. This kind of slow rubato introduction is sometimes found in soul songs such
as ‘Somebody Else’s Guy’ by Jocelyn Brown or ‘I will Survive’ by Gloria Gaynor. Once
the rock tempo has been established it remains at this tempo until the end of the
song. Particular features include occasional stop time (e.g. 30-31) which is often
found in rock and roll songs such as ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, syncopation, triplets, off
beat chords, irregular groupings and cross-rhythms/cross-phrasing (e.g. “really
laugh”). One particularly notable feature is the syncopated rising bass riff which
makes the song memorable and moves the song forward in a similar anticipatory
way to the bass line in ‘Se Quema la Chumbamba’.

Tonality
Lady Day and (John Coltrane)
This song is in C modal minor (Dorian mode), heavily laden with Blues notes. There
is no modulation, in keeping with the fact that 12 bar Blues chord progressions do
not modulate. This type of modality was something used extensively by John
Coltrane in pieces such as ‘Giant Steps’ in a bid to expand the otherwise
predominantly Blues tonality of earlier jazz. The tonality is therefore non-functional
C Dorian modality with Blues inflections.
Inner State of Mind
Like ‘Lady Day’ this is in C modal (Dorian) minor and there is no modulation. There
are many Blues notes and therefore the tonality, like the previous song, is non-
functional C Dorian modality with Blues inflections. This type of modality was
something used extensively by John Coltrane in pieces such as ‘Giant Steps’ in a bid
to expand the otherwise predominantly Blues tonality of earlier jazz.
Love and Affection
The song opens in a modal C# minor for the rubato section – this is the same key as
Kate Bush’s songs ‘Cloudbusting’ and ‘And Dream of Sheep’ Modal keys tended to
be used in pop and jazz and John Coltrane, who greatly influenced Pine, was heavily
responsible for the greater use of modes in jazz. Once the tempo is firmly
established, the rest of the song continues in E major without modulation. This is a
similar scheme to that used in Kate Bush’s ‘And Dream of Sheep’. Because of this,
there is a greater sense of conventional functional tonality and the relationship
between minor and relative major. Certainly, the tonic E pedal under the sax solo
and the perfect final cadence help to give this impression. Kate Bush also uses a
tonic pedal frequently throughout ‘And Dream of Sheep’ as a tonal anchor.

Harmony
Lady Day and (John Coltrane)
The modal, Bluesy harmony in this song is definitely influenced by Blues and jazz and
mainly follows the harmony of the original song, which is also distinctive in this
respect. There is a 12 bar Blues structure at the heart of the piece that has been
extended and modified. Every chord is extended or altered in some way. This
harmonic style is influenced by free and post bop musicians such as John Coltrane
and Miles Davis. The main chord is a C7#9 (actually written as a b10) which creates a
quirky dissonance from the start with the false relation between the E and Eb in the
same chord. There are also 7 th chords, 9th chords, 13th chords, 7th with aug 5th chords
and sus4 chords. There is also parallelism (chromatic sidestepping) around bar 65,
which is similar to Debussy’s musical style (e.g. in ‘Pagodes’) as his harmony was
quite unconventional and somewhat ‘jazzy’ for its time. The jazz pianist Thelonius
Monk was also noted for his use of this technique e.g. in the piece ‘Ruby My Dear’
right from the opening bars. The harmonic rhythm speeds up in the final section
(sounds like a chorus) of each Blues chord sequence (which starts with chord V Gm).
In the final section the harmonic rhythm is very slow and irregular - there are only 3
chords Gaug5, C7#9 and Bbmadd4, which ambiguously ends the piece.
Inner State of Mind
This song is somewhat less harmonically complex than ‘Lady Day’ but the harmonic
style is unmistakeably jazz inspired with its modal, Blues feel. It opens with two
adjacent chords which alternate - Cm7 and Dm7. This is a feature of the song
throughout and also a feature of much East Coast rap such as Public Enemy and the
Notorious BIG – which makes sense as this track includes two rap sections which are
accompanied by these two chords. There are also some more complex extended
and added chords such as C7#9 (as used in ‘Lady Day’) which shows the influence of
Miles Davis and John Coltrane. The quartal harmony in the horn section e.g. 70-71
and in the two note motif shows the influence of Miles Davis in the song ‘So What’
which uses identical harmonies. High-voiced guitar chords are similar to the funk
guitar voicings of Nile Rogers of Chic.
Love and Affection
The harmony in this song is less jazz influenced and more reminiscent of pop music.
It also fairly closely follows the original song. It also has a more tonal, functional feel,
reinforced by the primary chords that dominate from bar 22 onwards, the perfect
cadence at the end, the tonic pedal E under the sax solo (this could also show the
influence of reggae on Pine as Bob Marley used a tonic pedal throughout the song
‘Get Up Stand Up’) and the use of basic, non-extended chords in the opening section.
There is some variation - for example the chromatic sidestepping parallel chords
(also used in ‘Lady Day’) that were so popular with Thelonius Monk in the piece
‘Ruby My Dear’, some added chords such as Aadd9 and Badd4 and some inverted
chords. There is also a different and rising stepwise chord sequence in the Middle 8
to add contrast.

Conclusion
A defining aspect of Courtney Pine’s style has been his exploration of jazz from the
perspective of its potential when fused with other genres of music, some
contemporary to the time of the recording, others looking back to classic genres. In
Back in the Day we are treated to a rich and diverse mix of musical styles and
influences, the most prominent being blues, bebop, soul, funk, drum & bass and hip
hop, flavoured with a subtle nod to Pine’s own AfroCaribbean heritage and his love
of modern cultural trends, and – through the songs selected for cover versions on
the album – his childhood in the 1970s. This type of jazz-fusion has definitely
widened his target audience and has also possibly influenced other, more recent
contemporary jazz musicians, such as Robert Glasper and Gregory Porter to take a
similar approach, ensuring the continual evolution of jazz.