Back in the day -Courtney Pine

• The prescribed songs are typically characterised by pentatonicism, blue notes, and chromaticism
• Melody characteristics

  • Pentatonicism (e.g. 'Inner State (of Mind)', bars 1-2; 'Love and Affection' strings motif uses minor pentatonic scale, bars 84-85)
  • Blue notes (e.g. 'Inner State (of Mind)', bar 2, Gb; 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane), bar 23, Gb)
  • Chromaticism (e.g. 'Inner State (of Mind)', bar 100, note the ornamented chromatic descent C-B-Bb-A; 'Lady Day', bar 75; 'Love and Affection', on bass clarinet, bars 30-32)
  • Scat singing ('Inner State (of Mind)', bars 52-53)
  • Melismas ('Love and Affection', bar 47)
• Tonality and structure

  • 'Inner State (of Mind)' is in C minor with a modal (two flat) key signature. Its structure is freely evolving, with the recurring 'Inner State' motif, instrumentals and alternating verse (supported by riff) and rap sections
  • 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)' is also in C minor. It is a modified 12-bar blues with introduction and extended coda
  • 'Love and Affection' opens in C# minor but continues in E major. Its freely evolving structure starts with an introduction before moving into a riff-based song with a prominent refrain
• Other noteworthy features

  • Acciaccaturas (bar 8)
  • Controlled vibrato (bar 39)
  • Bending of notes (bar 45)
  • Fall-offs (bar 50)
  • Sliding up to pitch (bar 52)
  • Glissandos (bar 55)
• Harmony


  • 12-bar blues ('Lady Day and (John Coltrane)')
  • 7th chords ('Lady Day and (John Coltrane)', bar 21)
  • 7ths are sometimes laced with #9ths, which produce false relations
  • 9th chords ('Lady Day and (John Coltrane)', bar 47)
  • 13th chords ('Lady Day and (John Coltrane)', bar 81)
  • Some quartal harmony ('Inner State (of Mind)', bars 70-71)
  • False relations ('Inner State (of Mind)', bar 18)
  • Half-diminished chords ('Inner state (of Mind)', bar 53)
  • Augmented chord ('Lady Day and (John Coltrane), bar 119)
  • Parallel harmony ('Lady Day and (John Coltrane)', parallel 7th chords, bar 65)
  • Change of harmonic rhythm, i.e. rate of chord changes per bar (final section of 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)', from bar 119)
  • Use of basic (non-extended) chords (opening of 'Love and Affection')
  • Primary chords ('Love and Affection', bar 22 onwards)
  • Chromatic side-stepping ('Love and Affection', bar 62 onwards)
• Other noteworthy features include borrowing of melody from Gershwin's 'Summertime' from Porgy and Bess in 'Inner State (of Mind)'
• Extended performance techniques in 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)'
• Dubbed voices in 'Inner State (of Mind)' and 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)'
• Distortions and random background sounds at the start of 'Inner State (of Mind)'
• 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)' moves from fast quadruple to a slower rubato section at the close
• Use of a 'drum programme' in 'Inner State (of Mind)' and 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)'
• Considerable contrast of instruments used between the three songs
• Performance techniques

  Multiphonics and key clicks in 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)'
• 'Love and Affection' opens with a rubato quadruple time passage, before moving into an upbeat strict tempo
• Instruments used in each song

  • 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)': vocals, piano, guitars, saxophone
  • 'Inner State (of Mind)': vocals, rap, guitars, saxophone, trumpet, trombone
  • 'Love and affection': vocal, bvox, guitar, bass clarinet, tenor sax, strings
• Noteworthy features of the music

  • Borrowing of melody from Gershwin's 'Summertime' from Porgy and Bess in 'Inner State (of Mind)'
  • Acciaccaturas at bar 8
  • Controlled vibrato at bar 39
  • Bending of notes at bar 45
  • Fall-offs at bar 50
  • Sliding up to pitch at bar 52
  • Conjunct lines in 'Love and Affection' bars 16-19
  • Narrow-range lines in 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)' bars 5-7
  • Repetition of short figures in 'Inner state (of Mind)' bar 99
  • Frequent ornamentation in 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)'
  • Broken chords
  • Riff
  • Free counterpoint
• 'Inner State (of Mind)' is in a brisk quadruple metre throughout
• The Anthology shows a short score with piano, vocal, and chord symbols with guitar tab above the stave
• Texture features

  • Homophonic
  • Melody-dominated homophony
  • Rap with accompaniment
• Texture

  • The predominant texture is homophony or melody-dominated homophony
• Rhythm feature

  Syncopation
• 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)'


  Extended performance techniques: multiphonics and key clicks
• 'Back in the Day' (issued in 2000) was Courtney Pine's eighth album which he produced himself
• Three tracks from the album 'Back in the Day' are prescribed for study, including 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)' and 'Love and affection'
• 'Inner State (of Mind)' and 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)'


  • Use of 'drum programme'
• 'Inner State (of Mind)' and 'Lady Day and (John Coltrane)'


  • Dubbed voices
• Courtney Pine is a contemporary jazz musician who blends soul, rhythm and blues, reggae, and hip hop with traditional elements
• 'Love and affection'


  • Variation of vocal timbres
• Background sounds at the start of 'Inner State (of Mind)'

  • Random
• Tempo is given as beats per minute in the notation