I don’t normally venture out on Saturday evening, especially as press nights tend to be midweek, but, as it was my birthday and the brilliant Courtney Pine was playing at my favourite music venue, I just had to go for a listen. I began my wild partying with two pints of Three Swords, and a bag of nuts, at the Templar and moved up a gear when I got to Howard Assembly Room by indulging in a coffee and Viennese Whirl. I knew I’d regret it in the morning, but what the heck.
I have had the pleasure, and otherwise, of seeing many performers in all genres here, Mr Pine is up there among the best. Modern jazz is music which covers a multitude of forms, some of which are quite beyond my comprehension, and I wonder sometimes if there isn’t an occasional Emperor’s New Clothes element to some of it. Courtney Pine, however, is very accessible, and his riffs are much more easy to follow than some of the more ‘far out’ exponents. It also helped that most of the pieces played at this concert were familiar to followers of the Great American, and British, Songbooks, although the concert was called The Ballad Book. He was also accompanied by his usual pianist, Zoe Rahman, who I have seen here before, both with this evening’s star and as a soloist with her own band.
There is a chemistry between these two performers, both musically and spiritually, which seems to get stronger each time I see them. Tonight’s show was as tight as a drum. The other great thing is the sense of humour conveyed in both the music and banter. Unlike some of the artists I have seen here, Mr Pine is very humble and seems to be enjoying our company as much as we were enjoying his, unlike others who seem to think they have a right to be admired, even revered, without being half as good as he.
The evening kicked off with The Way You Look Tonight, setting the scene superbly well. The range of tones and keys he manages to squeeze from his bass clarinet is staggering, as I will reveal later.
His humility is reflected in his generosity of spirit, as illustrated in the next tune, Windmills Of Your Mind during which he gave Ms Rahman free rein to treat us to her interpretation of the classic, which was much different to his. Amazing!
Later, in his rendition of Blue Moon, he astounded the audience with a feat of breath control the likes of which I have never before experienced. He must have played for a good five minutes without appearing to take a breath, yes, I realise that he will be inhaling through his nose whilst blowing the mouthpiece, but it was more than impressive regardless.
After a short burst of Girl Talk, they took a break and resumed with the full version, which was good as it is one of my favourites, and I thought I might have been short-changed. I should have known better.
One of the works with which I was not familiar was called Your Majesty, which he dedicated to the memory of Dame Cleo Laine who died in July.
As an illustration of his sense of humour, we were regaled with a story about the following piece, All Through The Night. When he was a child in the other city beginning with an L – London – he went to William Wilberforce School where the Welsh headmistress made the children sing the song even though it meant nothing to them. It did come in handy later on in his life when Mr Pine performed a concert at Brecon, in the Principality. The audience was made up of staunch, elderly Welshmen, who began by being unresponsive, sitting with their arms folded and frowning. As a last resort, he played All Through The Night and the mood instantly changed, with them all joining in and singing the words. He asked if anyone present tonight knew the lyrics and a chap in the audience gave us the first verse, in Welsh, from his seat.
The highlight of the evening for me, however, was his rendition of Smile by Charlie Chaplin from the 1936 film, Modern Times, with which he had a great deal of fun. I mentioned his ability to create sounds from the bass clarinet, well, in this number he employed it as a sort of beatbox, to great effect.
He incorporated bars from other well-known songs during Black Waters, including The Magic Roundabout Theme, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and, I am sure especially for my benefit, Happy Birthday To You.
The show closed with Amazing Grace, which, out of respect, he played straight with no embellishment whatsoever. Most moving. To finally reinforce my respect for the man, he spoke a few heart-felt words of thanks and left the stage with Ms Rahman, having completed his set. There was no coming back to play a well rehearsed encore, something with is a pet hate of mine, especially if it means that the pantomime of going off and coming on again delays the end of a concert long enough for me to miss my bus and have to wait an hour for the next one. They did, what one of the previous acts I saw there called, a noncore.
So, all in all, a birthday to remember. Thank you Mr Pine and Ms Rahman, you made an old man very happy!
Courtney Pine admitted to not being much of a social media user so there is not a great deal of activity on his website, and details of future performances are a bit sparse, so just keep a look out in your local press for forthcoming dates.
To sample a piece of work which was played tonight please go to https://www.operanorth.co.uk/whats-on/courtney-pine-presents-song-the-ballad-book/
To see what else is coming to Howard Assembly Room it is https://www.operanorth.co.uk/howard-assembly-room/
For all things Opera North, try https://www.operanorth.co.uk/
Feature image provided by Howard Assembly Room. Photographs by Stan Graham
Tyke It To The Limit 