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Courtney Pine

Courtney Pine
Courtney Pine by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg
Background information
Born (1964-03-18) 18 March 1964 (age 52)
Origin London, England
Genres Jazz
Instruments Saxophone, Clarinet, bass Clarinet, Flute, EWI, keyboard
Years active 1986–present

Courtney Pine CBE (born 18 March 1964 in London) is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. 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.

Born in London to Jamaican parents, Pine went to Kingsbury High School, where he studied classical clarinet, teaching himself the saxophone from the age of 14. He began his music career playing reggae, touring in 1981 with Clint Eastwood & General Saint.

In 1986 Pine's debut album Journey to the Urge Within entered the UK Top 40. He 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). The Jazz Warriors developed out of the Abibi All-Stars community band thaturr 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. 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. 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 to raise awareness of the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal, which was established to erect the first statue of a black heroine outside of London's St Thomas's Hospital.


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Wikipedia

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