Closer UK 9 January 2016

Courtney Pine was initially a Coltrane sound-alike, but he began to bring soul jazz, reggae, and other musical genres to the mix with his 1992 album Closer to Home, which made use of his background touring with such reggae bands as Clint Eastwood & General Saint. Since then he has eagerly brought hip-hop elements into his work, performing live with a DJ in addition to his usual combo. His 1996 album, Modern Day Jazz Stories featured DJ Pongo on turntables as well as DJ Sparki on hardware/samples. Using an Apple Mac with Logic Audio software and Pro Tools, Pine generates loops as well as multiple flute and sax parts and combines them with studio techniques that include filtering and pitch-shifting, Pine was able to create the most convincing combination of mainstream jazz and electronica/DJ culture. This combination of jazz fusion and hip-hop has sometimes been dubbed “Trip Jazz.” The DJs function very much as part of the band, throwing ideas at the players and responding to their playing much the way a percussionist might do.

In four short years of existence, Green Lung have risen from the murk of the UK heavy underground to become a true cult band with a devoted following. Debut album Woodland Rites, released independently in early 2019, quickly garnered attention, resulting in a single being named ‘Track of the Week’ in the Guardian, plays on Daniel P. Carter’s Radio One Rock Show, a tour with fellow UK heavies Puppy and festival appearances across Europe.
This brought the band to the attention of the wider music industry, and after multiple offers from a variety of labels, the band decided to stay true to their roots and sign with the Finnish audio wizards at Svart Records, home to several of their doomy inspirations including Reverend Bizarre and Warning. Svart’s deluxe reissue of the album, and the preceding EP Free the Witch, sold out several pressings…