(Post-Bop / Avant-Garde / ACT) David Binney - South - 2001, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

If a musical work aspires to the adventurous, it is essential to have musicians who can confidently navigate the terrain. Saxophonist David Binney has assembled such a crew on South : tenorist Chris Potter, guitarist Adam Rogers, pianist Uri Caine, and bassist Scott Colley, plus Brian Blade or Jim Black on drums.
The opening "Out Beyond Ideas" is layered like a story with several chapters. Potter wails passionately above the soaring vamp until everyone gently alights to Earth. "The Global Soul" opens with a mysterious plucked solo by Colley, percolating with Caine and Colley in a three-note tandem. "Leaving the Sea" begins with a creeping piano statement and, in its wake, Binney's soprano whispers into play along with spare accompaniment by Colley and Blade. The hypnotic ballad "Traveler" features Rogers overdubbed on guitars and electronic effects by Binney. "New York Nature" includes more dexterous axe-work, starting off in the jazz idiom and ending up as a soul/funk excursion.
Binney is the prime mover behind this project, but he has so much confidence in his fellow musicians that he seems content to stay somewhat in the background. His compositions are almost symphonic in nature, challenging without being esoteric, thought-provoking without seizing the listener by the collar.
South proves that jazz is not restricted to a head/solos/head structure. Nor does it have to be a lot of indiscriminate wailing in an arcane tongue. As leader, Binney takes full advantage of his talented ensemble, and this excellent disc reveals just how connected the common threads of music, from jazz to R&B to classical, can be. ~ Terrell Kent Holmes, AAJ
South is a hauntingly beautiful album of outstanding compositional innovation. The sheer angularity of the opening horn phrase is like tiptoeing across an exposed arete, the cymbals nervously fluttering wisp-like at your heels, the thinnest melodic bridge that leads you to the relative safety of the song's harmonic center. Here you hunker down, comforted by the warm tones of a gently cascading guitar motif brilliantly set against parallel-running streams of intoxicating saxophone. It's a triumvirate amongst many libationary moments. In fact, the whole album makes you dizzy.
Soft complex textures trade places with raucous screaming solos. Rich horn arrangements belie the modernity of this recording. The same worn out path or a new direction? Neither. An able and ample continuation of the layered sublimity derived from Miles Davis' late electric period and culminating with John McLaughlin's genius post-bop The Heart of Things.
Musicianship is paramount. Complexity emerges from great orchestration. Catchy hooks and whistle-able humdinger melodies open into freer heart-wrenching loquacious solo sections. Binney and Chris Potter scream and scorch their way through Kenny Garrett-esque frenzy. Adam Rodgers gets to tip his overdrive pedal and Scott Colley and Brian Blade, and sometimes Jim Black, pound like a gale against the tent wall, incessantly driving the ferocious rhythm, exciting and propeling the weaving soloist through a chicanery of brotherhood: transience; a dynamic fraternity of fleeting bedfellows interspersed amongst polyrhythmic peaks.
That's not to say the music is never calm, collected, even calculated. The quieter passages better suit the relatively straight-laced Uri Caine, and also provide a platform for rest and a moment's breath. But it is only for a moment, and we are soon up again kicking in to the next slope, transporting to new musical heights on this leviathan of modern jazz. ~ J.F. Derry, AAJ
While saxophonist/composer David Binney has made a significant contribution to modern jazz with his involvement in the high-octane New York City-based outfit “Lan Xang”, amid fine recordings on his “Mythology” label and numerous high profile session dates, the artist has eluded widespread recognition. However, Binney has steadily constructed a budding reputation as a strong composer who possesses a praiseworthy technique whether performing on alto or soprano saxophone. With his latest effort titled South, the saxophonist reaps the good fortunes of an all-star aggregation of solo artists and first call session aces.
On works such as “Out Beyond Ideas” and “Moment In Memory”, Binney shines forth as a gifted melody maker who melds blistering and concisely stated notes with an often silken edge. Here and throughout, the leader and tenor saxophonist, Chris Potter makes for a vicious front-line attack as their respective styles offer a bit of contrast and counterpoint to the altogether bustling crosscurrents. The piece titled, “Leaving The Sea” boasts climactic opuses in concert with the saxophonists’ rippling notes and soulful discourses in conjunction with guitarist Adam Rogers’ fleet-fingered single note leads. – Binney and pianist Uri Caine surge forward with zealous aplomb atop drummer Jim Black’s propulsive rock/funk pyrotechnics on, “Von Joshua,” whereas the band perpetuates stimulating choruses, oscillating rhythms, lush harmonies, and inviting lyricism on “Southpaw.”
Overall, there is no hint of filler material or aimless jamming on this wonderfully orchestrated recording, as Binney and co. utilizes space and depth to their advantage. No doubt, the best of both worlds coalesce for a joyful union of spiraling dialogue and tail spinning musicianship. Hence, Binney’s potent compositional pen and the ensemble’s torrid interplay provide the recipe for one of the year’s finest modern jazz-based outings! Highly recommended. ~ Glenn Astarita, AAJ

The music on altoist Dave Binney's set, which is comprised entirely of his originals (other than one free improvisation), is consistently intriguing. The post-bop solos, particularly those of Binney and tenor-saxophonist Chris Potter, are excellent but it is in the arrangements themselves, and in the way that the improvisations flow naturally out of the episodic frameworks that are most impressive. Although the overall results are logical, the frequently passionate music is quite unpredictable, with the forms evolving as much as the individual solos. Some doomsayers may claim that jazz has not evolved since the mid-1970s, but South is one of hundreds (if not thousands) of bits of evidence to the contrary. This is a set that will grow on listeners, keeping one guessing even after several listens. ~ Scott Yanow, AMG

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 from 4. May 2009
EAC extraction logfile from 27. January 2010, 21:23
David Binney / South
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