The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
As the new year of the pandemic and moving forward remaining steadfast in our social distancing, I pulled an album out of the stacks that was recorded by British saxophonist Courtney Pine. The album was recorded on July 21-23, 1986 and was released later that year on Verve Records. It was his debut titled Journey to the Urge Within that heralded the arrival of Courtney Pine at the head of a new generation of British jazz musicians.
A pied piper who led British jazz out of the doldrums after its brilliant flowering in the 1960s. Courtney Pine, who was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000, and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), led a new breed of accomplished young jazz lions in Britain. His music was powerful, intense and in the tradition of the great tenor saxophonists such as Coltrane and Rollins. Figuring in the Top 40, an unprecedented achievement for a British jazz album, it went silver, helping to trigger the 1980s jazz boom.
Track List | 43:44 All compositions by Courtney Pine except where noted.- Miss Interpret ~ 4:15
- Believe ~ 4:36
- Peace (Horace Silver) ~ 5:20
- Dolores (Wayne Shorter) ~ 3:29
- As We Would Say ~ 3:19
- Children of the Ghetto (Chris Amoo, Eddie Amoo) ~ 7:02
- When, Where, How and Why ~ 5:20
- C.G.C. ~ 3:31
- Seen ~ 4:28
- Sunday Song ~ 1:27
- E.F.P. ~ 3:45
- Big Nick (John Coltrane) ~ 4:35
Personnel
- Courtney Pine – tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet
- Ray Carless – baritone saxophone
- Kevin Robinson – trumpet
- Julian Joseph – piano
- Roy Carter – keyboards
- Orphy Robinson – vibraphone
- Martin Taylor – guitar
- Gary Crosby – bass guitar
- Mark Mondesir – drums
- Susaye Greene – vocals
- Cleveland Watkiss – vocals
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Norman Burns was born in London, England on March 11, 1920. Closely associated with the pianist George Shearing, together they worked the West End nightclub circuit in the mid 1940s, before Shearing made his fame and fortune in the USA.
Though he recorded with Alan Dean Beboppers and others in 1948, he never was a bop musician. He was a regular figure on the modern jazz scene and from 1951, he led a quintet whose format and repertoire were based on the successful George Shearing Quintet formula. From the time of their first gig they were an instant hit and for two and a half years the quintet toured the UK jazz venues with great success. They added vocalists Eileen Draper and Johnny Green in 1954 but the group disbanded in 1955.
Esquire decided to record the quintet in 1952 by which time a number of personnel changes had taken place. Victor Feldman, the highest profile jazz musician working with the group had left prior to the recordings. A later move to Australia, saw drummer Norman Burns residing for many years until he passed away in June 1994.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Louis Tebogo Moholo was born on March 10, 1940 in Cape Town, South Africa. He formed The Blue Notes with Chris McGregor, Johnny Dyani, Nikele Moyake, Mongezi Feza and Dudu Pukwana, and at the age of twenty-four, emigrated to Europe with them. He eventually settled in London, England where he formed part of a South African exile community that made an important contribution to British jazz.
In 1966, he toured Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he performed at the Theatron with Steve Lacy, Johnny Dyani and Enrico Rava and recorded the album The Forest and the Zoo with the same musicians. During the 1970s he was a member of the Brotherhood of Breath, a big band comprising several South African exiles and leading musicians of the British free jazz scene in the 1970s. He is the founder of Viva la Black and The Dedication Orchestra.
His first album under his own name, Spirits Rejoice on Ogun Records, is considered a classic example of the combination of British and South African players. In the early 1970s, Moholo was also a member of the afro-rock band Assagai.
He has played with, among others, Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Enrico Rava, Roswell Rudd, Irène Schweizer, Cecil Taylor, John Tchicai, Archie Shepp, Peter Brötzmann, Mike Osborne, Keith Tippett, Elton Dean and Harry Miller.
Moholo returned to South Africa in September 2005, performing with George Lewis at the UNYAZI Festival of Electronic Music in Johannesburg, South Africa. Now going by the name Louis Moholo-Moholo because the name is more ethnically authentic, the drummer continues to perform and record.
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Three Wishes
Speaking with Betty Carter, Baroness Pannonica inquired as to what she would wish for if given three and she responded by telling her:
- “Health. Without that you don’t have anything.”
- “To be recognized as an individual all the way.”
- “Happiness for my son.”
*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Victor Ash was born in East London, England on March 9, 1930, of Jewish ancestry and began playing professionally in 1951 when, with Tubby Hayes, he joined the band of Kenny Baker, with whom he played until 1953. Following this association, Ash played with Vic Lewis from 1953–56, then accompanied Hoagy Carmichael and Cab Calloway on their English tours.
Leading his own group, he became a favourite in the Melody Maker fan polls of the 1950s. Concurrently he had a radio program called Sunday Break, which discussed jazz and religion. In 1954, the Vic Ash Quartet recorded with US singer Maxine Sullivan in London. Ash toured the U.S. in 1957 and returned to play with Lewis in 1959. That same year his ensemble was the only one representing British jazz at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Ash remained a mainstay on the British jazz scene for decades, playing in small and large ensembles including the BBC Big Band. He accompanied Frank Sinatra on his tours in Europe and the Middle East, from 1970 until Sinatra’s death.
He released many albums for Pye, Nixa and MGM, mostly in the mainstream jazz tradition. Saxophonist and clarinetist Vic Ash, who co-authored his autobiography I Blew It My Way in 2006, passed away on October 24, 2014.
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