Jazz Articles about David Binney

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David Binney: Graylen Epicenter

by Ian Patterson
June 13, 2011

Undoubtedly one of the great alto saxophonists, David Binney's reputation as an original, exciting composer has also grown steadily since his debut recording, Point Game (Owl Records, 1989). Binney is so prolific a musician that it's sometimes hard to stay abreast of his current projects. However, there is little chance of Graylen Epicenter going unnoticed. With this recording Binney raises the bar, playing sublimely and drawing outstanding performances from an A-list of New York collaborators, clearly inspired by the leader's ...

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David Binney: Graylen Epicenter

by C. Michael Bailey
February 10, 2011

Alto saxophonist and producer David Binney has become a ubiquitous presence in jazz in the last 20 years fronting his own bands while appearing with Donny McCaslin, Uri Caine, Joel Harrison, Edward Simon and Bobby Previte. He might be considered the logical next step in jazz saxophone after Wayne Shorter and Michael Brecker (Sonny Rollins remains in an orbit by himself), never mind that he is not a tenorist. Binney has been sharpening his direction over his last two recordings ...

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David Binney: Graylen Epicenter

by Dan Bilawsky
February 4, 2011

19th-century German novelist Berthold Auerbach is long forgotten by the masses in modern day society, but his best-known quote about music, “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life," still lives on but pays no mind to the fact that some of the finest music can be reflective of everyday life. The human population experiences a daily yin and yang built of creation and destruction, hope and despair, joy and anger, simplicity and complexity, ...

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David Binney: Graylen Epicenter

by Troy Collins
February 2, 2011

Saxophonist, composer and producer David Binney, a progressive artist with one foot in the mainstream and the other in the avant-garde, has gracefully skirted the tenuous divide between traditions for over two decades. Regularly alternating between semi-casual blowing dates and far more ambitious projects, Binney follows up the relatively straight-ahead Aliso (Criss Cross, 2010) and lavish Third Occasion (Mythology, 2009) with the expansive Graylen Epicenter. Featuring a host of Binney's longstanding associates, this wide-ranging session offers a compelling portrait of ...

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David Binney: Graylen Epicenter

by John Kelman
January 20, 2011

Even with artists whose eyes are always on a dangling carrot that keeps them moving relentless forward, there are albums where quantum leaps are made. Since 2005, alto saxophonist/composer David Binney has been alternating between small ensemble, inherently quick-and-dirty sessions for the Dutch Criss Cross label like Aliso (2010) and more ambitious projects on his own Mythology label, including the particularly excellent Third Occasion (2009). If Third Occasion found Binney's reckless yet unerringly focused playing and instantly recognizable and influential ...

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Christophe Schweizer Moonsun: Cocoa

by AAJ Italy Staff
July 29, 2010

Cocoa è un disco che si presenta lineare e se vogliamo anche piuttosto canonico. Composizioni ben strutturate e formalmente ineccepibili, esecuzioni ben ancorate alla tonalità, interplay fluido e ben organizzato, rispetto dei ruoli, arrangiamenti raffinati. Ma l'eleganza che ammalia l'ascoltatore e che avvolge la proposta musicale contenuta nell'ultimo lavoro del trombonista svizzero Christophe Schweizer è tutt'altro che statica, monotona, prevedibile. Vi è infatti in Cocoa una sottile, vibrante tensione provocata dalla maestria degli interpreti, abili nel creare piccoli salti di ...

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David Binney: Aliso

by J Hunter
May 24, 2010

For Aliso, reedman David Binney wanted to get back to “doing things that have been part of my life since I was a kid." It's clear that any time is a good time for a happy childhood, because both Binney and his band dive into Aliso like 10 year-olds on vacation at Disney World.

The opening title track has a gritty New York feel reminiscent of the mid-century era Criss Cross likes to revisit. The groove is complex and rich, ...