David Binney

David Binney, the alto saxophonist and composer recognized for an exploratory and harmonically supple approach, ranks among jazz’s decorated figures whose command of lineage thrives within an outlook oriented squarely ahead. After issuing Point Game as his initial leader date in 1991, he has appeared on hundreds of sessions while heading or co-heading more than thirty projects of his own. Although he records for multiple imprints, Binney established the Mythology label in 1998 specifically to document his most daring work, among them Out of Airplanes from 2006 and Third Occasion from 2009. Honored with three Down Beat Critics Polls as top alto saxophonist, he moves fluidly between supporting roles and leadership duties. His first appearance on Criss Cross Jazz arrived with Bastion of Sanity in 2005. The benchmark Graylen Epicenter, released in 2011, is frequently cited among his strongest statements; it presented an expanded electro-acoustic group that included vocalist Gretchen Parlato. Anacapa followed in 2014 as a forward-looking venture in twenty-first-century electric jazz. Binney has also earned distinction as a producer. After overseeing tenorist Donny McCaslin’s The Way Through in 2003, he guided seven additional McCaslin albums plus projects by Joel Harrison and others. He is further credited with recruiting the ensemble, fronted by McCaslin, for David Bowie’s final album Blackstar. Following the digital-only Here & Now on Mythology in 2018, Binney returned to reside in Los Angeles and issued the digital Aerial for the same label in 2020. In January 2022 he delivered the quartet recording A Glimpse of the Eternal on Criss Cross Jazz.

Born in Miami, Florida, on August 2, 1961, Binney lived briefly in Detroit while his parents, devoted music enthusiasts, attended Wayne State University. They exposed him to recordings by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter, Jimi Hendrix, Milton Nascimento, and Sly & the Family Stone, among others. Raised in the coastal town of Carpinteria, California, he pursued formal saxophone instruction with several teachers in nearby Los Angeles. In 1980, at age nineteen, he relocated to New York City and received guidance from Phil Woods, Dave Liebman, and George Coleman. A 1989 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts enabled him to record his debut CD, Point Game, which appeared in 1991 on the Owl label. He worked as a sideman with Aretha Franklin and Maceo Parker, maintained an early though brief tie to the M-Base techno-funk circle, and subsequently forged a notable alliance with tenor saxophonist Chris Potter.

Binney has belonged to or collaborated with Lost Tribe, Lan Xang alongside fellow saxophonist Donny McCaslin, Uri Caine’s Gustav Mahler and J.S. Bach projects, the Drew Gress-led group Jagged Sky, the Maria Schneider and Gil Evans orchestras, and Medeski, Martin & Wood. Audioquest issued his second leader album, The Luxury of Guessing, in 1995. In 1997 he launched his own Mythology imprint and captured the ambitious self-titled Lan Xang debut featuring Scott Colley on bass, McCaslin on tenor and soprano saxophones, Jeff Hirschfield on drums, and Binney on alto, Tunisian horn, and wood flute. Free to Dream followed almost immediately in 1998.

In 2001 Binney co-led Afinidad, the first of two widely praised collaborations with pianist Edward Simon. That same year he also released South and Balance on Germany’s ACT label. Welcome to Life in 2004 and Out of Airplanes in 2006 both appeared on Mythology, framing the 2005 Criss Cross date Bastion of Sanity and Fiestas de Agosto, his second recording with Simon. The charting Cities and Desire emerged on Criss Cross in 2006, the same year he issued the electro-acoustic Out of Airplanes on Mythology. In 2007 Binney and Simon co-led Océanos for Criss Cross.

In 2009 Binney released the widely acclaimed Third Occasion on Mythology; the session placed the altoist alongside bassist Scott Colley, drummer Brian Blade, pianist Craig Taborn, and a four-piece brass section that included trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire.

Further acclaimed albums followed on Criss Cross, among them Aliso in 2010 and Barefooted Town the next year. Also in 2011 came Graylen Epicenter on Mythology, still counted among the saxophonist’s most celebrated releases. Fellow participants included bassist Eivind Opsvik, drummers Blade and Dan Weiss, pianist Taborn, vibist Kenny Wollesen, Potter on tenor, Akinmusire on trumpet, and Parlato on vocals.

Binney returned to Criss Cross for the acoustic Lifted Land in 2013, again featuring Taborn, Opsvik, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey. The following year he turned to the electro-acoustic fusion project Anacapa. He then joined guitarist Adam Rogers for the bop-centered R&B in 2015 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 on Criss Cross. Here & Now arrived in 2018 as a digital-only Mythology release; it found Binney incorporating 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 outing, Aerial, in 2020. He performed vocals and played all instruments on all but two tracks. A year later he followed with the completely solo Aerial 2. In January 2022 Binney reconvened his longstanding quartet with Opsvik, Taborn, and drummer Dan Weiss to release A Glimpse of the Eternal on Criss Cross. Its twelve tracks encompassed group improvisations, compositions by each member, and interpretations of modern jazz pieces by Vince Mendoza, Jan Garbarek, and Ralph Towner, closing with a reading of the Harry Warren standard “I Had the Craziest Dream.”