Courtney Pine: ‘My music teacher said Black people like me shouldn’t go to university’
The jazz musician on his brush with death and an unfortunate trouser malfunction at an awards ceremony
January 2021
Axing Courtney Pine from music A-level shows how easily schools ignore Black stories
Lavinya Stennett
After an outcry, Pearson Edexcel restored the jazz artist to its syllabus. But a diverse curriculum is still a long way off, says Lavinya Stennett, founder of The Black Curriculum
Music A-level exam board to reinstate its only black composer
Edexcel initially defended decision to cut British jazz artist Courtney Pine from course
Exam board drops only black composer from music A-level syllabus
British jazz artist Courtney Pine axed amid Covid-related course changes, says Pearson Edexcel
October 2017
Courtney Pine: Black Notes from the Deep review – still top dog
(Freestyle)
September 2017
On my radar
On my radar: Courtney Pine’s cultural highlights
The jazz pioneer on Mass Effect: Andromeda, Watford boxing star Anthony Joshua, Notting Hill carnival’s Panorama and a lovely frittata
March 2015
Courtney Pine/Zoe Rahman review – a celebration of timeless ballads
The playlist
The playlist: jazz – Miles Davis, Gregory Porter, Laura Mvula and more
Courtney Pine: Song (The Ballad Book) review – unsurpassed virtuosity
Courtney Pine: Song (The Ballad Book) CD review – timeless songs inventively reimagined
March 2014
From the Guardian archive
From the archive, 15 March 1986: Courtney Pine is blowing up a saxophone gale
Originally published the Guardian on 15 March 1986: The young musician is one of the first black men this side of the Atlantic to make his mark on the jazz scene
December 2013
The best original photographs from the Observer
Original Observer photography: November
Naomie Harris, Ellie Goulding, Richard Osman and the great Harry Dean Stanton all feature this month in our showcase of the best photography commissioned by the Observer
November 2013
This much I know
Courtney Pine: 'Carrying my instrument home each day made me feel better about myself'
The jazz musician, 49, on standing up to the 'jazz police', playing saxophone on the moon, and being saved by the Pet Shop Boys
December 2012
This week's new live music
This week's new live music
This Is The Kit | Big Sexy Noise | Happy Mondays | Courtney Pine | Liane Carroll
October 2012
Courtney Pine: House of Legends – review
Courtney Pine: House of Legends – review
March 2011
Courtney Pine – review
Famous as a saxophonist, Courtney Pine gives his new Europa venture a unique signature by concentrating on the fiercely elemental and quintessentially acoustic sound of the sonorous bass clarinet, writes John Fordham
Courtney Pine: Europa – review
Some of Courtney Pine's bass clarinet-suffused new album is quite brilliant, writes Dave Gelly
Courtney Pine: Europa – review
A culturally broad span of vivid world music themes imaginatively executed and improvised on by an all-star band, writes John Fordham
September 2009
Empirical: Out'n'In
When they emerged in 2007, Empirical made bigger waves and more column inches than any UK jazz ensemble since Courtney Pine's early bands, says John Fordham
