Courtney Pine - Transition In Tradition (NEW CD)

The long awaited studio album from british jazz legend Courtney Pine is finally here and it is a transitional work too.This is a real departure for Courtney from recent albums.Firstly (and thankfully),gone are the programmed drum beats and synth effects that have been heavily used in recent times making this an all acoustic affair.He leaves the tenor saxophone at home for this album and concentrates on soprano sax and his more recently adopted favourite the bass clarinet with the alto flute also making a cameo appearance.
As the title suggests this is a homage to New Orleans legend Sidney Bechet and that theme is evident on most of the tracks giving this a different feel to previous Pine albums.With the use of the flute and bass clarinet some of the pieces have an almost classical/chamberish feel to them (oh no you're thinking!)but as you would expect from Mr Pine this is tastefully done.There are a huge number of musical influences and styles used here - too numerous to describe track by track but i'll give you a few examples.
"The sound of jazz" is typical of Pines own take on modern jazz and music in general and incorporates New Orleans,jazz and Latin with dramatic chhanges of emphasis."Creole swing" does exactly what it says on the label and is a fast and lively traditional New Orleans piece. "Toussaint L'overture" is a nod to the legendary Alan Toussaint and has a chamberish feel with the bass clarinet's lower register used to good effect.To complete the eclectic mix he takes "Tale of Joe Harriot" on alto flute and achieves a piece full of sadness and longing for the aforementioned Mr Harriott.
This is by far Pine's most eclectic work to date and there is much to savour.Not all of the tracks will please everybody depending on your own personal preferences and this is,i feel, very much a work in progress for Pine and i will await the next installment with interest.

Always a dangerous thing to write down immediate reactions to new music; how often do you find that things you like instantly fade quickly, while music that takes a while to enjoy stays with you?

So with that caveat, here's what I thought. The first thing that struck me is that the sound quality of the disk is not as great as jazz fans may have come to expect over recent years - certainly not up to ECM-type standards. It's not bad, but I sense that the engineering / production doesn't quite do justice to Mr Pine's tone. In particular there is a sound that I can't quite make up my mind about: I think it's a violin, although it could be an electric wind instrument / keyboard sample - either way it's a not-quite-natural sounding tone. Not unpleasent, but unexpected.

Of course this could be my fault: I put the music on my ipod which is hardly a hi-fi experience (and also without the inlay card hence being unsure about the violin-type tone).

The music is quite something. The 'transition in tradition' title is very apt: not so much a modern take on old music, but more a melting pot of a whole range of influences, but with a slug of New Orleans thrown in. It's certainly not a typical modern jazz album. Listeners who have been long-standing fans of Courtney Pine may find the unfamiliar sounds created by the bass clarinet, alto flute, muted drums, almost honky-tonk piano sound, Bechet-influenced soprano sax trills and ornamentation (almost Bach-like, if you get what I mean) difficult to latch onto immediately. The tunes themselves are also unfamiliar, in that they don't sound much like the vast majority of modern jazz, and certainly don't sound much like the majority of Courtney Pine's previous work. There's a quality to the tunes which I'm finding hard to descripe, but the best I can come up with is 'straightness' - the swing is very traditional, and the tunes have a classical music, or perhaps folky quality that is a long way away from 'cool' jazz - a world apart from Miles/Coltrane/Shorter/Hancock lineage that so much modern jazz comes from.

I once heard someone decribe the album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (Raising Sand) as having a 'swampy' quality to it - and this album has something of the same vibe, but from a jazz musician's perspective.

But all this is in a good way. Anyone who's heard Courtney Pine's recordings or heard him play live knows that he must stand as one of the very very best jazz musicians playing today, and compares favourably to the very best there's been. This is a very strong album both in terms of playing and overall concept. All credit to him for being brave enough to make a record that's so far away from run of the mill.

So, do I admire it? Most definitely yes. Do I like it? Sort of. Is it a great record? It might well turn out to be one of the best for a long time, and one that comes to define Courtney Pine's approach to music.

I haven't heard very much in the last few years that's made me sit up and listen so intently as this, and made me think so much. I imagine I'll have to listen to it many more times before having a definitive view, but my first impression is 'I have to listen to that again'.

Should you buy it? YES! And not just to to support one of jazz's greatest living musicians, but because it will give you food for thought for some time to come. 4 stars - maybe moving to 5 when I've had more time to digest!

I was not sure what to expect looking at the cover but listen to the first track and you'll not be disappointed - full of energy and brilliant playing by Courtney and a great team of musicians. He plays the bass-clarinet and flute and once again pushed the boundaries as he does best. Can't wait to hear it live.