Courtney Pine Respect Festival 2001

Courtney Pine was, in a word, fantastic!

He mesmerized me and the rest of the crowd with his awesome sax playing - a real joy to watch.
At one point he did this "look no hands" thing with his sax that just went on and on winding up to a crescendo. How he didn't keel over while he was at it is a mystery to me as he didn't seem to take the time to draw breath the whole time. His eyes rolled back into his head so only the whites were showing and he blew that sax like a man possessed driving everyone wild.

The way he interacted with the rest of his band was great.
They were all obviously having a lot of fun and what a bunch of talented musicians. Courtney Pine's showmanship and rapport with the crowd made the whole experience all the more enjoyable.

All too soon his set came to an end but we'd had almost an hour of cool jazz tunes from a man who has not forgotten his local roots.

Check out more pictures of Courtney and his gang at the festival.

For more about this inspirational British jazz saxophonist, visit Courtney Pine's official website (link opens in new browser window) and definitely go see him if he's playing at a town near you - it'll be well worth the effort.