David Binney Quartet - A Glimpse Of The Eternal (January 2022 Criss Cross Jazz)

Between 2004 (Bastion of Sanity) and 2016 (The Time Verses), alto saxophonist David Binney made nine albums for Criss Cross as either leader or co-leader, presenting predominantly his distinctive original music. Much of it emanated from his interactions in New York – his home from 1981 until 2018, when he moved to Los Angeles – with a cohort of local musicians comprising a who’s who of contemporary improvisers. During that intense and productive 12-year span, Binney recalls, he often spoke with Gerry Teekens – who founded Criss Cross in 1981 and sustained the label until he died in October 2019, leaving a legacy of over 400 albums, all of them good, some of them classics of the jazz idiom – about making a ballads record. Teekens´ son promised his father to keep the legacy alive and the label going, and after an 18-month recording hiatus he approached some of his´ father’s favorite artists to revive Criss Cross and launch it into the 2020s. One was Binney, who took the opportunity to suggest, “Maybe I should  inally do that ballads record in honor of your father.”

The tenth Criss Cross album with Binney’s imprimatur, A Glimpse of the Eternal, is, he says, “completely different than anything I’ve ever done – chilled out, an honest and pleasant vibe, nothing too complicated or intense.” If that self-description seems at odds with the intense, complex tonal personality that Binney has presented on his 30-album discography since 1990...well, that was his intention. He explains: “Initially, I wanted to do something like those almost commercial records from the ’50s or ’60s or ’70s, like a Gene Ammons record I have where he plays these balladlike tunes for 2½-3 minutes.” He adds: “All the guys were superenthusiastic about doing a straight-ahead ballads record.”

1 Our Place 03:09

2 In A Way 04:50

3 Ambivalence 06:47

4 Vibe Changer 04:13

5 Craig 03:08

6 Blue Sky 05:45

7 Nightfall 08:34

8 Dave 02:35

9 Group 01:27

10 A Glimpse Of The Eternal 03:32

11 The Cat And The Moon 04:55

12 Craig 2 01:49

13 I Had The Craziest Dream 06:06

David Binney - alto sax

Graig Taborn - piano

Eivind Opsvik - bass

Dan Weiss - drums

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Eivind Opsvik - Overseas V (LOYAL LABEL 2017)

Bassist-composer Eivind Opsvik, born and raised in Norway but resident in New York City for some two decades, has developed an utterly individual musical soundprint, one that blends the song-minded composition and creative studio craft of art rock with the virtuosic edge and spontaneity of progressive jazz. Opsvik’s sequentially numbered series of instrumental albums dubbed Overseas, begun in 2003, and continues here with Overseas V. Time Out New York called Overseas IV one of the “freshest” albums of 2012, extolling its “depth.” The hooks-galore writing, artful production and sublime playing remain constant in Opsvik’s work, but in the place of the Baroque atmospherics of Overseas IV are post-punk influences, from the melodic bass lines of Joy Division/New Order to the funky stutter of Talking Heads.

Then there is the inspiration of Brian Eno’s early avant-rock LPs – catchy, off-kilter songs played by great musicians – and the lessons young Opsvik learned from experiencing guitarist Terje Rypdal and other of ECM’s Scandinavian jazzers live, not just on record. The latest, road-honed version of Opsvik’s Overseas band features close longtime friends, who happen to be some of the most compelling improvisers on New York’s creative music scene: saxophonist Tony Malaby, guitarist Brandon Seabrook, keyboardist Jacob Sacks and drummer Kenny Wollesen, all for whom quality of sound matters more than quantity of notes.

The nine tracks of the LP-length Overseas V are also concise and immediate, with no songs hitting six minutes and only three over five. Rhythm more than melody and atmosphere are the basis of these pieces, with a lot of the drum grooves written out. The band is elastic with time and pitch, and the improvisations are very concise.

1. I'm up This Step

2. Hold Everything

3. Extraterrestrial Tantrum

4. Brraps!

5. Cozy Little Nightmare

6. First Challenge on the Road

7. Shoppers and Pickpockets

8. Izo

9. Katmania Duskmann

All music written and produced by Eivind Opsvik

Brandon Seabrook - electric guitar

Tony Malaby - tenor saxophone

Kenny Wollesen – drums and percussion, rhythm ace drum machine, hand claps

Jacob Sacks – piano, rmi rock-si-chord organ

Eivind Opsvik – double bass, analog bass synthesizer, oberheim drum machine, hand claps

Tony Malaby Paloma Recio - Incantation Suite (feat. Ben Monder, Eivind Opsvik & Nasheet Waits) 2016

Tony Malaby, tenor sax, soprano sax

Ben Monder, guitar

Eivind Opsvik, double bass

Nasheet Waits, drums

1. Glass 9:16

2. Artifact 10:30

3. Hive 10:30

4. Procedure 17:37 

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