JAZZ REVIEW : Courtney Pine in West Coast Debut

Courtney Pine, the 24-year-old British saxophonist, made his West Coast debut as a band leader Wednesday at Santa Monica’s At My Place and displayed many of the elements of youth: exuberance, energy, enthusiasm.

But in the course of his hourlong opening set at the warehouse-like nightclub, Pine also showed another side of his musical youthfulness: immaturity.

Like most young players, Pine, whose musical gifts are quite extraordinary, has yet to learn that the careful placement of a handful of notes in a cohesive musical statement is far more effective than the nonstop series of flurries he applied to each of the four tunes of his set. In his eagerness to impress and please, Pine’s approach to each tune was to play everything he’s ever learned and then, for insurance, play it backwards.

At moments, his thousand-notes-per-minute technique was breathtaking (not necessarily for Pine, however; he earned his biggest ovation for a lengthy demonstration of circular breathing) but fewer moments of significant music resulted.

Accompanying Pine was a fine trio of equally youthful players whose opportunities for bombast were minimized by their supporting roles. Pianist Julian Joseph contrasted Pine by being admirably economical in his solo outings, especially on the opening “Sepia Love Song.” On “What’s New,” bassist Delbert Felix took an out-of-time solo that was plaintive and stirring. Drummer Mark Mondesir kept things consistently swinging and constantly interesting, though his deliberateness waned during the leader’s outings.

Pine’s best moments came during Errol Garner’s “Misty.” Though the effect of the tune was lessened by the electronic echo applied to Pine’s tenor saxophone, the tempo of the tune forced him to be more judicious in his phrasing. The leap from “Misty” into “Giant Steps” was effective, with the leader being surprised by the sudden appearance of tenor saxophonist Azar Lawrence.

Pine is certainly one of the brightest stars on the current jazz scene. It can only be hoped that as he matures and discovers that less is more, his exuberance, energy and enthusiasm won’t fade.