Search - David Binney :: Out of Airplanes

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Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 01/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're like me, you love David Binney for his adventurous, beyond-the-boundaries approach to jazz, not the straight-ahead approach characterized by, e.g., Bastion of Sanity. Don't get me wrong: Binney's ALWAYS worth hearing; it's just that some of his stuff is more worth hearing than others.



This one most certainly is worth hearing.



In fact, it strikes me as Binney's greatest achievement: thoroughly modern, nicely out there, meaty compositions, brilliant playing, and sly sound engineering (the great Tucker Martine) and editing (the equally great Eivind Opsvik).



And oh! What a band! Frisell, at his spikiest and most elegiac (how do they do that?!); keyboard master Craig Taborn (playing lots of stunning acoustic piano); Kenny Wollesen, drumming his guts out; and the aforementioned Eivind Opsvik providing monster bass figures.



Throw in Binney's best compositions since Free to Dream, and you have an altogether remarkable, totally up-to-date jazz disc of the highest accomplishment. Is it a coincidence that his very best works (this disc and Free to Dream) come out on his own label, the inimitable Mythology? I don't think so.



Do yourself a favor and check out some of the hippest, coolest, happenin'est music on the planet. You won't be disappointed.



I guarantee it."

Out of this world.

Scott Williams | Oakland, CA United States | 05/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Overview:

Out of airplanes is an imaginative, creative, sonic exploration. It has a daydream like quality where you are put into an almost trancelike state as the musicians explore the boundaries of songs with epic themes. The album really is a meeting of the minds of the masters of electronic, jazz, and sound exploration. Bill Frisell for years has been exploring various aspects of texture and mood by pushing the limits of the sounds that can come out of an electric guitar. Craig Taborn has been the preferred sideman for most explorative electronica/jazz forays for many years, and Eivind Opsvik is at the heart of the jazz/electronica movement that is going on in Norway. You combine these talents with a drummer who has excellent chemistry with Bill Frisell and one of the most remarkable composers (Binney) of the past decade and you get one heck of a gem of a recording. The title and cover art fit perfectly with the mood of the album. You can't help but imagine the fractal like tendrils of clouds and majestic beauty of the view out of an airplane as this music makes your mind drift away.





Personnel:

David Binney (alto sax) Binney is the leader of the group and wrote a majority of the songs on this album. Binney is one of the hottest rising stars on the alto sax, and is one of most exciting composers of the decade. Binney's compositions typically include epic grandeous themes with intertwining harmonies

Bill Frisell (guitar) Frisell is arguably the best contemporary guitar player. He has a 1000 ways to play the same chord and is a master of spacing, and sound manipulation

Eivind Opsvik (bass): Opsvik is one of the premiere jazz players from Norway. If you aren't familiar with the current movement in Norway of jazz meets electronica, you must check out what is happening on the Rune Gramofon label, which is at the center of it all. Opsvik in addition to contributing on the bass, also contributes to the song writing on this album

Kenny Wollesen (drums) : Kenny Wolleson is Frisell's regular drummer, and is also the drummer for Sex Mob.

Craig Taborn (Piano, Organ, Synthesizers): Taborn is perhaps the best electric keyboard and synthesizer player of this decade. He is quickly becoming one of my favorite jazz musicians.

Adam Rogers: additional guitar on Out of Airplanes and Wild Child





Song Highlights:



Contributions: Contributions features a hypnotizing repetitive piano riff that quickly puts you in a trance. Next Frisell and Binney come in with beautifully harmonic intertwining melody lines.



Jan Mayen: Opsvik's Jan Mayen is just full of emotion. Binney's solo is just screaming with pain. Frisell backs him up with heartfelt moans from his guitar. Very moving.



Out of airplanes: The title track starts up like your typical song on this CD, then breaks down into a chaotic malaise of noise and free outbursts. Then just when you think the song isn't going anywhere, a subtle epic theme appears... perhaps the most majestic and wonderful theme of the album. It will make you want get out of the seat and yell yeah. This is a perfect example of Binney's masterful compositional skills.



Home: Home starts out with a Taborn piano solo, then Binney comes in and introduces a theme, then Frisell comes in and ratchets up the mood, and the from there the song just builds and builds until the end when it just explodes on you.

"