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Douglas Yates
Freedom Art Quintet: Spirits Awake
by Matt Merewitz
A relative newcomer to the New York avant scene, the Freedom Art Quintet seems to fit in historically somewhere in between the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the funky Cannonball Adderley Quintet.The opener, “In the Thick of It,” suggests the avant-garde while keeping things in time and relatively harmonically tame. The writing is interesting enough to catch your attention, while the bridge is abrupt, too short, and extremely corny. Thickness is followed by sparseness on “Kimbunga,” a little ...
Continue ReadingFreedom Art Quartet: Spirits Awake
by Jeff Stockton
On Spirits Awake, the Freedom Art Quartet immediately announces its overall dedication to groove and funky second-line beats with "In the Thick of It," as Jaribu Shahid’s ripely swinging bass gives way to Abraham Burton’s lush, confident tenor and Omar Kabir’s incisive and radiant trumpet. On "Kimbunga," Kabir switches to flugelhorn and makes it growl like a trombone without the aid of a slide or plunger mute, and guest altoist Douglas Yates solos busily before the band returns to state ...
Continue ReadingDavid Binney: Free To Dream
by John W. Patterson
Binney is known to many as the sax genius of Lost Tribe and his skill is no less evident herein — in Binney's chosen dreamworld, a musical vibe, a flow, where he is free. Running his own record label, going the freshly popular independent route, affords total control and thus creativity and style unbounded by the prickly hedges of commercialism's maze.Believe me, this spirit works well to my ears. Binney's eleven compositions echo a fuller, matured Lost Tribe ...
Continue ReadingDavid Binney: Free To Dream
by Glenn Astarita
New York City “Downtown Scene" alto saxophonist David Binney has produced a winner here. Binney has gained some much-deserved recognition due to his dazzling virtuosity with artists such as Drew Gress, Edward Simon and the beloved hard-edged jazz-fusion band, Lost Tribe. Free To Dream is Binney's first solo effort on his newly formed Mythology Records label. Here, Binney is supported by a mini-brass section, exotic percussion, muscular rhythms and long time associate Edward Simon on the piano. Free To Dream ...
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