David Binney & Edward Simon: Oceanos (2007)

Glenn Astarita

Senior Contributor since 1997

Longtime contributor to AAJ and Downbeat, Jazz Review, EjazzNews, Radio DirectX.

Recent articles (1,629 total)

Published: April 22, 2007

Recorded in 2004 and released in 2007, this studio set provides another musical viewpoint set forth by the collaborations (2001's Afinadad, on Red Records) of pianist Edward Simon and saxophonist David Binney. With lithe supported from bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade, the music iterated here parallels the album title. Think of a soothing coastal breeze during a sunset, where the bustling ocean undercurrents provide a lucid framework for the mind's eye.

Vocalist Luciana Souza's over-the-top vocalise serves as an additional instrumental voice amid these mood-evoking vistas spiced with Latin rhythms and multilayered horns. Binney's climactically-driven sax solos offer gobs of thematic nuances during these largely medium-tempo jaunts highlighting Simon's eloquent and often-nimble phrasings. On "Impossible Question, Simon and guitarist Adam Rogers go head to head as Blade's offbeat accents assist with positioning a framework for the horn sections punchy choruses. And in other regions of sound and scope, the artists pursue interleaving passages and strategically-placed dynamics with buoyantly executed slices of Brazilian music.

Binney redefines the primary melody during his beautifully constructed solo on "Twenty Four Miles to Go, where sinuous and ascending lines transmit a hip and modernistic jazz vibe. Otherwise, this is an attractive outing that doesn't veer off into abstruse angles or sway heavily into specific genres. Binney and Simon effectively incorporate a succession of multilayered arrangements that seamlessly integrate the base elements of Latin music into the modern-mainstream jazz vernacular.

Visit David Binney and Edward Simon on the web.

Track Listing: We Dream Oceans; Impossible Question; Amnesia; El Parrandero; Govinda; Twenty Four Miles To Go; Impossible Question Reprise; Home.

Personnel: David Binney: alto saxophone; Edward Simon: piano; Scott Colley: bass; Brian Blade: drums; Luciana Souza: vocals (1, 2, 5, 6); Adam Rogers: guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 8); Shane Endsley: trumpet (1, 3, 4, 7); Jesse Newman: trumpet (1, 3, 4, 7); Alan Ferber: trombone (1, 3, 4, 7); Pernell Saturnino: percussion (1, 4, 7).

Record Label: Criss Cross
Style: Straight-ahead/Mainstream