KJZZ CD Reviews

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Birthdays of notable jazz musicians:

Courtney Pine, Saxophone, 1964, London, Eng

Courtney began by playing the clarinet before taking up the sax. He formed the hard-bop group, Dwarf Steps, while still in his teens. He worked with various raggae and funk bands, but after about 1980 he played jazz exclusively. He occasionally performed in the group Freebop, with John Stevens. In 1984 he formed the group Abibi Jazz Arts, intending to promote interest in jazz among black British musicians. Out of this evolved the all black big band Jazz Warriors, which fused jazz with other styles of black music. In the mid '80s Pine began to lead his own groups, including the World's First Saxophone Posse. In 1986 Courtney performed with Art Blakey and toured with Elvin Jones and George Russell.

Bill Frisell, Guitar, 1951, Baltimore, MD

In 1971 Bill studied guitar with Jim Hall and then attended the Berklee College of Music where he studied composition with Mike Gibbs. In 1978 he toured England with Gibbs' big band and met Eberhard Weber, with whom he recorded the following year. Frisell soon became house guitarist at ECM, where he played and recorded with Paul Motian. With ECM he recorded his first album in 1982. He has maintained an association with Motian and has also worked with John Scofield. Bill's earliest influences were Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery, and Jimi Hendricks. At times he combines the various aspects of their styles to form a style that is strictly his own. He played clarinet before becoming a guitarist, and his experience on a wind instrument is evident in the breathy sound he strives for with the guitar. Frisell is redefining the function of the guitar.