Courtney Pine (bass clarinet) & Zoe Rahman (piano)
For ten years or so Courtney Pine hasn’t picked up his tenor saxophone. As a member of the seminal Jazz Warriors Pine emerged as a welcome new voice on the jazz scene going on to form, tour and record with his own small group. Back in the day, a gig at Riverside (long-since closed) on Melbourne Street, Newcastle heard Pine, the new kid on the block, play commanding post-Coltrane tenor. At the time, Sage Gateshead was but a twinkle in the eye. Decades later Courtney Pine plays the Norman Foster-designed Sage Gateshead venue on a regular basis.
This 2016 concert appearance at the Gateshead International Jazz Festival featured a duo performance with pianist Zoe Rahman. The reedsman has a self-imposed exclusivity pact with the bass clarinet (tenor, and for that matter, soprano saxophone, nowhere to be seen) and it’s been this way for some time. Pianist Zoe Rahman has been working with Pine for some time as a duo and this Gateshead gig tended to focus on the bass clarinet, the piano decidedly adopting a supporting role in their performance of the album Song (The Ballad Book).
Sage One’s crowd knew what they were there for – to hear Courtney Pine, bass clarinetist. Extended solos frequently relegated Rahman, a fine musician, to that of comping pianist. The physical exertion of playing the rarely heard bass clarinet found Pine gulping in air, rehydrating with bottled water and determinedly launching into another lengthy workout.
Windmills of Your Mind, a robust A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, Amazing Grace – three familiar numbers, all given the full-on treatment by Pine. Zoe Rahman, smiling in typically serene manner, impressed when given the chance and the sizeable audience took the opportunity to show its appreciation. A Child is Born was a tour de force, indeed Pine was a tour de force throughout the one-set performance.
Terence Blanchard was up next...
Russell.
Wasn't there, but review sounds familiar. I recognise what you describe from their gig at the Alnwick Playhouse in May last year! Great gig though!
ReplyDelete