Gigs: Courtney Pine at Turner Sims Concert Hall :: Wessex Scene Online

Gigs: Courtney Pine at Turner Sims Concert Hall

23rd March 2007
Catherine Marks

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Feb 07 - Gigs: The Decemberists at Southampton University
May 07 - Gigs: Arcade Fire at Brixton Academy
Dec 06 - Gigs: The Flaming Lips live at the Brighton Centre
Feb 07 - Gigs: Ben Folds live at Hammersmith Apollo
Feb 07 - Gigs: I am Kloot at Southampton Joiners

More by Catherine Marks

May 07 - Album Review: Bright Eyes
May 07 - Gigs: Arcade Fire at Brixton Academy
May 07 - Joy Division joins the Sports Division
May 07 - Album Review: Scout Niblett
Mar 07 - The Death of the CD

As I took my seat in Highfield Campus’ Turner Sims I was rather concerned that I was surrounded by an elite audience of Jazz experts – and there was me sitting in my ignorance. Courtney Pine has been performing jazz music for decades, but I’d only ever heard a couple of recordings before the gig, so I really wasn’t sure what to expect.

However, all my doubts were allayed the moment he took to the stage. Courtney Pine held such a strong presence and was such an amazing musician that I couldn’t help but get caught up in the rhythms and ever shifting melodies that he and his band produced. This gig was all about the band and the audience enjoying themselves and just playing with music, regardless of whether we could claim to know what album a track came from or whether he was actually playing a cover.

But before Courtney’s band came on we were treated to the warm up gig in which the guitarist from the band performed some solo work that’s due to be released in March. The technical musicianship was superb and it was great to watch the dynamics of the band; from the rocking guitarist, to the geeky (rather out of place) guy on the keys, to the incredibly chilled drummer whose bow at the end of their set was more of a glance at the floor and a quick shuffle off the stage.

A glass of wine later and we were ready for Courtney Pine. The warm up band had been good, but when Courtney Pine opened with a track in memory of the late James Brown my expectations flew out of the window. This was a stunning performer – he handled his saxophone as though he had never been without it, knowing exactly how and when to hit harmonics or the deepest richest notes that resounded around the hall. I’ve been in Turner Sims many times and never have I been so aware of the music filling the space and burning to burst out of it. Courtney Pine set everyone’s hearts racing and I found it didn’t matter whether I knew what he played or not since every note was simultaneously unexpected and perfectly where it should be.

At one point during the gig Courtney Pine mused upon a recent celebrity television show and, naming no names, interpreted in musical form the battle between East and West. Any other band attempting a musical Big Brother fight at a gig would have fallen flat on their faces, but Courtney Pine’s switching from blues scale to Indian improvisation was actually stunning. The band, of course, came back on for an encore and the audience was revoked for being "very very very verrrry orderly" so we all stood up and danced (or more like bopped in my case) and were even encouraged to take part in some three part harmonies. Courtney Pine is a musical genius who certainly blew the cobwebs out of Turner Sims and I can’t believe I didn’t go to see him last year!