David Binney

Marked by an adventurous, harmonically fluid style, alto saxophonist/composer David Binney is an award-winning jazzman whose grasp of tradition flourishes inside a vision focused firmly on the future. Since releasing Point Game, his 1991 leader debut, he has played on hundreds of records, and led or co-led more than 30 others. While he records for several labels, Binney founded the Mythology label in 1998 for releasing his most adventurous recordings. They include 2006′s Out of Airplanes and 2009′s Third Occasion. The winner of three Down Beat Critics Polls for alto saxophone, Binney seamlessly transitions between sideman and bandleader. He made his Criss Cross Jazz debut with 2005′s Bastion of Sanity. 2011′s landmark Graylen Epicenter is widely regarded as one of his finest outings; it showcased an expanded electro-acoustic ensemble that featured vocalist Gretchen Parlato. 2014′s Anacapa was a vanguard exercise in 21st century electric jazz. Binney is also a noteworthy producer. After helming tenorist Donny McCaslin’s The Way Through in 2003, he produced seven more of his albums in addition to recordings by Joel Harrison and many others. Binney is credited with assembling the band (led by McCaslin) on David Bowie’s last album, Blackstar. After releasing Here & Now as a digital outing from Mythology in 2018, returned to live in Los Angeles, and followed with the digital Aerial for the label in 2020. In January 2022, Binney released the quartet date A Glimpse of the Eternal for Criss Cross Jazz.
Born in Miami, Florida, on August 2, 1961, he spent some time in Detroit while his parents, who were big music fans, were at Wayne State University. They introduced him to the music of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter, Jimi Hendrix, Milton Nascimento, and Sly & the Family Stone, among others. Growing up in the beach community of Carpenteria, California, Binney began formal studies on the saxophone with various teachers in nearby Los Angeles. In 1980, at the age of 19, he moved to New York City, where he was tutored by Phil Woods, Dave Liebman, and George Coleman. He was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1989, using it to record his first CD, Point Game, in 1991 for the Owl label. He was a sideman for Aretha Franklin and Maceo Parker, was initially and briefly associated with the M-Base techno-funk crowd, and then formed a special partnership with tenor saxophonist Chris Potter.
Binney has been a member of or collaborator with Lost Tribe, Lan Xang (with fellow saxophonist Donny McCaslin), Uri Caine’s Gustav Mahler and J.S. Bach projects, the Drew Gress-led combo Jagged Sky, the Maria Schneider and Gil Evans orchestras, and Medeski, Martin & Wood. Audioquest released his second album as a leader, The Luxury of Guessing, in 1995. In 1997, Binney founded his own Mythology label and recorded the ambitious self-titled debut by Lan Xang, with Scott Colley (bass), McCaslin (tenor and soprano saxes), Jeff Hirschfield (drums), and Binney (alto, Tunisian horn, and wood flute). He followed almost immediately with Free to Dream in 1998.
In 2001 Binney co-led Afinidad, the first of two widely acclaimed outings with pianist Edward Simon. That year he also released South and Balance for Germany’s ACT label. 2004′s Welcome to Life (2004) and 2006′s Out of Airplanes both appeared on Mythology as bookends for the 2005 Criss Cross date Bastion of Sanity and Fiestas de Agosto, his second outing with Simon. The charting Cities and Desire appeared from Criss Cross in 2006, the same year he issued the electro-acoustic Out of Airplanes on Mythology. In 2007, Binney and Simon co-headlined Océanos for Criss Cross.
In 2009, Binney released the universally acclaimed Third Occasion. Issued by Mythology, it featured the altoist in a lineup that included bassist Scott Colley, drummer Brian Blade, pianist Craig Taborn, and a four-piece brass section that included trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire.
More praiseworthy albums followed on Criss Cross, including 2010′s Aliso and the following year’s Barefooted Town. 2011 also saw the release of Graylen Epicenter on Mythology. It remains one of the saxophonist’s most celebrated outings. Other players on the sessions included bassist Eivind Opsvik, drummers Blade and Dan Weiss, pianist Taborn, vibist Kenny Wollesen, Potter on tenor, Akinmusire on trumpet, and Gretchen Parlato on vocals.
The saxophonist returned to Criss Cross for 2013′s acoustic Lifted Land, featuring Taborn, Opsvik, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey. The following year he switched it up with the electro-acoustic fusion outing Anacapa. He then paired with guitarist Adam Rogers for 2015′s bop-centric R&B, and assembled the McCaslin-led band for David Bowie’s final album Blackstar in 2016. In 2017 he delivered the quartet date The Time Verses for Criss Cross. 2018′s Here & Now arrived as a digital-only release on Mythology. It found Binney utilizing electronics and synths alongside his saxophone. That same year, he joined fellow reed players David Liebman, Donny McCaslin, and Samuel Blais for Four Visions: Saxophone Quartet.
Ghost Note Records reissued Here & Now on vinyl in 2019, while Binney issued a second digital date entitled Aerial in 2020. He performed vocals and all instruments on all but two tracks. A year later, he followed with the completely solo Aerial 2. In January 2022, Binney reassembled his longstanding quartet with Opsvik, Taborn, and drummer Dan Weiss to release A Glimpse of the Eternal for Criss Cross. Its 12 tracks included group improvisations, compositions by all members, and covers of modern jazz tunes by Vince Mendoza, Jan Garbarek, and Ralph Towner, as well as a closing read of the Harry Warren standard, “I Had the Craziest Dream.” ~ Michael G. Nastos & Thom Jurek