Dave Binney Quartet
From New York, Dave Binney Quartet - Wed 24th March @ Whelans
adm €18 tel 01 670 3885
Dave Binney - saxophone
Jacob Sacks – piano
Thomas Morgan - bass
Dan Weiss – drums
"A strikingly original composer, bandleader and conceptualist." - Downbeat
“With an intelligent combination of probing improvisation against ensemble music, Binney's music occupies a distinctive place in contemporary jazz.” – The Guardian
IMC completes its trio of visits by working New York bands in early 2004 with a musician who is a wild card on the European scene , but whose name has become a leitmotif for all that’s creative among the cognoscenti on the other side of the Atlantic. Saxophonist and composer Dave Binney is unquestionably one of the most original forces at work in US jazz today.
A musician who embodies the dictum of ‘jazz as the sound of surprise’, his unique compositions morph across all manner of musical genres from avant funk to electronica, always tempered by a genuine lyricism. Unencumbered by the burden of jazz history, yet clearly steeped in it, Binney conjures up multifaceted music that succeeds on many levels, poised between eclecticism and purity, access and intrigue.
Born in Florida, raised in California, at 19 Binney was ready to meet the challenges of the New York music scene, rising within its ranks throughout the early 90s. Like many of his peers, his musical vision has been fostered through years of service in leading ensembles, from Uri Caine’s Mahler Project and The Gil Evans and Maria Schneider Orchestras, through a lengthy tenure with bassist Cecil McBee and projects with peers like Bobby Previtte and Drew Gress. With nine albums under his own name, the latest of which are for influential German label ACT (South 2001, Balance 2002) it wont be long before his European profile matches his considerable reputation in the US.
It helps that he's a great alto sax player too, abetted by a quartet of like minded free thinkers in pianist Jacob Sacks, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Dan Weiss, themselves emerging voices set for a stellar musical career.
