Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » David Binney: Cities and Desire

262

David Binney: Cities and Desire

By

View read count
David Binney: Cities and Desire
David Binney turns the impressions of various cities that he has cast in his mind's eye into thirteen tunes that showcase nine cities, with four of them getting an "Intro. Binney frames his vision on Cities and Desire with a broad and focussed view, both as a composer and as a player. His playing captures the spirit in the directness of his approach, his navigation through ideas, and his fulfillment of the experience.

Binney's writing encapsulates the colour each city exudes, from a calm translucence to a whirling bustle. "London captures those attributes quite nicely, indeed as Binney waltzes in with some Old World charm, his gait unhurried. Along the way he envisages quick changes; nothing is static. His view is complemented by Mark Turner's tenor saxophone, even if the view he adopts is darker.

For Binney, "Montreal is apparently an effervescent city. The excitement kicks off on bass and drums with Binney essaying an eloquent melody, stretching the notes on the alto saxophone. Turner turns it around to a bop groove, hitting hard on a potent forge. The two horns of invention pulsate and throb, and when they are locked in dialogue, the encounter becomes highly spirited.

A tangent comes with "Miami, a ballad with a light tone, lyrical melody and magical results. The "Intro to "Toronto springs a delightful surprise. Dan Weiss' understanding of the sonorities of the tabla leads him to shade the tonalities of the rhythmic cycles effectively. Craig Taborn's piano work keeps the mood glowing. His initial approach finds him choosing notes in specious rumination, and then he takes off on a run that harmonizes the structure with exquisite detail, leaving it to Turner to get ferocious and uppity and book-end the tune just right.

Binney turns in yet another compelling portrait with Cities and Desire, justifying his place as a musician of the first parallel.

Track Listing

Lisbon; London; Intro to Toronto; Toronto; Los Angeles; Intro to Carpinteria; Carpinteria; Intro to Rome; Montreal; Intro to Miami; Miami; New York City.

Personnel

David Binney
saxophone, alto

David Binney: alto saxophone; Mark Turner: tenor saxophone; Craig Taborn: piano; Thomas Morgan: bass; Dan Weiss: drums, tabla, vocal.

Album information

Title: Cities and Desire | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: Criss Cross

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.