What are the key features of the three tracks from Courtney Pine's Back in the Day?
Courtney Pine: three tracks from Back in the Day (Inner State (of Mind), Lady Day and (John Coltrane), Love and Affection). British jazz fused with soul, hip-hop and reggae, improvisation, riffs, sampling and groove.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, three tracks from Courtney Pine's Back in the Day. Covers British jazz fused with soul, hip-hop and reggae, saxophone improvisation, riffs, sampling, groove and the techniques the appraising exam rewards.
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What this dot point is asking
This is the first Popular Music and Jazz set work: three tracks from Courtney Pine's album Back in the Day (2000): Inner State (of Mind), Lady Day and (John Coltrane) and Love and Affection. You must know how Pine fuses jazz with soul, hip-hop and reggae, his saxophone improvisation, the riffs and grooves, and the use of sampling and studio production.
Context and style
Jazz elements: improvisation and harmony
Riffs, groove and rhythm
Technology, texture and production
How Edexcel examines this
This set work is examined with describe/comment questions on the fusion of styles, the improvisation, the riffs and groove, and the production, supported by the anthology. It may anchor the single set-work essay or feature in the links essay (paired with an unfamiliar jazz or fusion extract). It compares naturally with the Fusions area of study and with the studio-led production of The Beatles and Kate Bush. The mark scheme rewards the terms improvisation, riff, groove, extended chords, syncopation, backbeat, sampling, located and attributed.
Try this
Q1. What instrument does Courtney Pine improvise on, and over what? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. The saxophone, improvising melodic solos over a repeating harmonic groove.
Q2. Name two popular styles Pine fuses with jazz in these tracks. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Soul, hip-hop, reggae and drum-and-bass, heard in the grooves, basslines and production.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 20198 marksDescribe how Courtney Pine combines jazz with other styles in these tracks. (Component 3, Section A, with anthology)Show worked answer →
A Section A question on fusion of styles.
Jazz elements. Saxophone (and other reed) improvisation over a groove, extended jazz harmony (seventh, ninth and extended chords), swung and syncopated rhythms.
Other styles. Soul, hip-hop, reggae and drum-and-bass influences in the grooves, basslines and production; sampling and looping; the use of guest vocals.
Effect. The blend creates a contemporary British jazz that draws on black popular music. Locate examples of the jazz solo and the popular groove.
Markers reward named jazz and popular features (improvisation, extended harmony, sampling, groove) with attributed, located examples, not "it mixes jazz and pop".
Edexcel 20228 marksComment on the use of improvisation, riffs and rhythm in these tracks. (Component 3, Section A)Show worked answer →
An 8-mark question on jazz and rhythmic technique.
Improvisation. Pine improvises melodic saxophone solos over a repeating harmonic groove, a central jazz technique; the solos are spontaneous and virtuosic.
Riffs and rhythm. Repeated melodic and bass riffs underpin the tracks; the rhythms are syncopated and groove-based, with a backbeat and influences from hip-hop and reggae.
A strong answer defines improvisation and riff, locates examples, and describes the syncopated, groove-based rhythm, rather than asserting "it is jazzy and rhythmic".
Related dot points
- Area of Study 4 Popular Music and Jazz: the three set works (Courtney Pine's Back in the Day, Kate Bush's Hounds of Love, The Beatles' Revolver), the styles of jazz, art-pop and 1960s rock, and the techniques of riff, improvisation and studio production.
An overview of Area of Study 4 (Popular Music and Jazz) for Edexcel A-Level Music. Introduces the three set works by Courtney Pine, Kate Bush and The Beatles, the styles of jazz, art-pop and 1960s rock, and the techniques of riff, improvisation and studio production the appraising exam rewards.
- Kate Bush: three tracks from Hounds of Love (Cloudbusting, And Dream of Sheep, Under Ice). Art-pop using the Fairlight sampler, drum machines, layered production, word-painting and atmospheric texture.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, three tracks from Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. Covers art-pop, the Fairlight CMI sampler, drum machines, layered production, word-painting and the atmospheric textures the appraising exam rewards.
- The Beatles: four songs from Revolver (Eleanor Rigby, Here There and Everywhere, I Want to Tell You, Tomorrow Never Knows). 1960s rock, studio production (tape loops, reverse recording, ADT), harmony, melody and structure.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, four songs from The Beatles' Revolver. Covers 1960s rock, pioneering studio production (tape loops, reverse recording, ADT, varispeed), harmony, melody, structure and the techniques the appraising exam rewards.
- The musical elements (melody, harmony, tonality, texture, structure, rhythm, metre, tempo, dynamics, articulation, instrumentation and technology) and the analytical vocabulary the Component 3 appraising paper rewards across all six areas of study.
A focused answer on the musical elements that underpin every Edexcel A-Level Music appraising answer. Covers melody, harmony, tonality, texture, structure, rhythm, metre, dynamics, articulation, instrumentation and technology, with the precise vocabulary and bar-referencing the Component 3 exam rewards.
- Area of Study 5 Fusions: the three set works (Debussy's Estampes, Familia Valera Miranda's Cana Quema, Anoushka Shankar's Breathing Under Water), and the concept of fusion, blending Western, Asian, African and Latin American musical traditions.
An overview of Area of Study 5 (Fusions) for Edexcel A-Level Music. Introduces the three set works by Debussy, Familia Valera Miranda and Anoushka Shankar, and the concept of fusion that blends Western, Asian, African and Latin American traditions, with the features the appraising exam rewards.
Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel A-Level Music (9MU0) specification (Issue 7) — Pearson Edexcel (2016)
- Pearson set work support guide: Courtney Pine, Back in the Day — Pearson Edexcel (2016)