Track Listing

1. Intro - Roots
2. Abolition Day
3. Remercier Les Travalleurs
4. Blak Flag
5. Apunta Un Lapiz
6. Crossing The Sands
7. Civilisation
8. We Are A Warrior

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15156 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-28
• Number of discs: 1

Jazzwise, (Stephen Graham), May 2008
(4 stars) The music flows in a cinematic way...gloriously arranged and performed...this album is a must-have.

The Guardian, (John L Walters), April 25, 2008
(4 stars) Typical of Pine's uplifting and accessible reinvention of contemporary jazz in his own "Afropean" image.

The Independent On Sunday, (Phil Johnson), April 27, 2008
Offers plenty of delights...There's Alex Wilson's kora-inspired piano; trombonist Harry Brown's joyful skank on "Blak Flag"...

Customer Reviews

An album for grown ups
This is an outstanding album by the Jazz Warriors (not Courtney Pine - who plays some sumptuous bass clarinet on this). As a bandleader Pine has put together an eclectic mix of instruments and styles that must have thrilled the audience. The requirement of the listener is to be in love with music and passion rather than with a particular instrumemnt or genre. High quality musicianship underscores this project that is all the more profound because of the subject matter. I adore albums that keep my interest. In 100 years time this will be filled under classical MOBO.

The Long awaited new Courtney album - Was it worth the wait ?
The long awaited new release from the great Courtney Pine comes as a bit of a disappointment really - mainly because there's so little of Courtney on it.Two very brief solos (Baritone & Soprano only) fom one of Britains premier saxophonists leaves me fealing a little short changed.However, there is much good music to be had in the,albeit,fairly short running time of a shade over fifty minutes (including a bonus track).
This is a very bold musical statement from Pine and like no other Courtney record you'll have in your collection.This album sees him paint on a large musical canvas with an ensemble cast including trumpeter Byron Wallen,altoist Nathaniel Facey (from Empirical),hot violinist Omar Puente,alto saxist Jason Yarde and guitarist Femi Temowo all included in the fifteen piece big band.
Musically he offends no one and covers all the bases from Jazz and blues to soul and funk with stops along the way in India and the Caribbean. Herein lies the problem for me - like Wynton Marsalis's "From the plantation" album,there are so many different musical influences,with many of them appearing in the same piece,that it's difficult,even after repeated playings to really absorb what's going on.A set theme for each piece would have been better than several muscial styles appearing on each track.Most of the compositions have some fairly fierce,dark overtones which i guess highlites the struggle for slavery and at times,especially on "Black flag", are not always straight ahead."Blak Flag" itself would sound very much at home on a David Murray or Charles Mingus album with it's free improved and stacked melodies producing a cacophany of sound.Not really sure either that the steel pan drums were a worthwhile addition,and in fact,gets more solo time than CP himself !
The live sound from the Barbican is pretty good but am never a fan of hearing thousands of people applauding on albums and would have been better to edit those out.
All in all a competent enough release from Courtney but would have been a whole better if he'd have narrowed his sights,extended some of the tracks and lastly included a few rip roaring tenor solos of which,there are sadly none on this album.