Escape The Flames (GEARBOX)
Binker and Moses
Released December 11, 2020
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lHcyQNFpXqqa9KxJSn-izLeFCOA288nuY
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5MeN8jJOYHIxVDnm8utGWT?si=unIOA8N4Qzaty2c_BDY-KA
About:
Those who know the duo will appreciate that every Binker and Moses performance is distinct in itself, characterised by a mutual spontaneity and a tireless interrogation of the infinite. This 6-track recording, taken from their Journey to the Mountain of Forever album launch at the iconic Total Refreshment Centre back in 2017, is a whole new interpretation of the studio album’s first disc (with the opening tune clocking in at a full 17 minutes of semi-free exploration.) The audience’s excitement, a sound-bed of whoops and yells, is heard intermittently throughout and only adds to the incredible vibe – a tonic perhaps to these gig-dry, restricted times.
Track Listing:
Disc One:
A1. The Departure
B1. Intoxication From The Jahvmonishi Leaves
B2. Fete By The River
Disc Two:
C1. Trees On Fire
D1. The Shaman’s Chant
D2. Leaving The Now Behind
All tracks composed by Binker Golding and Moses Boyd
Personnel:
Binker Golding: tenor saxophone
Moses Boyd: drums
Recorded
live at London’s Total Refreshment Centre in June 2017
Engineered and mixed by Gareth Finnegan
Mastered and cut by Darrel Sheinman at Gearbox Records
Cover illustration by Binker Golding
Review:
Though live performances still are paused, the past several months saw an avalanche of archival concert recordings be released. Saxophonist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd captured some magic one evening in June 2017 at London’s Total Refreshment Centre, running through the first half of their 2017 album Journey To The Mountain Of Forever (Gearbox). So many of the compositions on Escape The Flames are opportunities for Boyd to find every impeccable beat to push behind Golding’s playing. Surprisingly, though, the reedist plays sparingly throughout the evening. This isn’t to say it’s not flashy, just precisely what’s called for. Golding’s more adventurous showing on “Trees On Fire” definitely can induce the stank face. But it’s Boyd’s drumming that’s unrelenting, always on beat yet always finds new ways to go beyond it. Things open up more on “The Shaman’s Chant,” where the pair explicitly prove their simpatico, weaving in unison and giving listeners a sense of their live performance as the album’s energy builds. There’s an arc here that happens organically, as opposed to the sequencing of their studio releases. It has more to do the open time a live performance might have granted them, as opposed to the fierce acuity of a studio session. Yet, Escape The Flames is one of those live performances that really merited a release, regardless of the pandemic. The album now could serve as a kind of consolation, providing a sense of connection and discovery—elements captured in their finest form on one summer night in London.
Anthony Dean-Harris (DownBeat)
