If Binker Golding isn’t a name you immediately recognise, you might know the group he is in with Moses Boyd. Binker and Moses. Since 2015 this free jazz duo has helping to redefine what jazz can, and should, be doing. The music Golding makes might not be as forward thinking as his work with Boyd, or Boyd’s solo work, but it is just as enjoyable. Looking to the past, as much to the future, Golding delivers seven killer cuts that are some of the finest pieces of music he’s ever released.
The first time I heard Dream Like a Dogwood Wild Boy I was travelling from Brighton to Poole. My train was cancelled and the next one was 10-minutes later. At the time I didn’t realise how monumental those 10-minutes would be. A simple journey turned into a convoluted one. In total I spent an extra 90-minutes waiting at train platforms in the arse-end of the South. However, it wasn’t all bad. It reinforced my ideas about Portsmouth, I got to listen to Dream Like a Dogwood Wild Boy for longer than I had planned. Its romantic themes, Ry Cooder like guitar and use of space made it the ideal soundtrack. As we slowly crawled past industrial wastelands, low-rent housing and beautiful waterways the album’s quirky melodies and infectious rhythms swept me away to somewhere more pleasant.
‘(Take Me to the) Wide Open Lows’ feels more like the score to a Wim Wenders film than the jazz album I was anticipating. After the opening bars of slide guitar, a jaunty guitar riff emerges. Over this Golding’s saxophone explodes. It is light and full of the joys of life. Again, this is not what I was expecting. Binker and Moses last album was a dank, krautrock, electronic affair, filled with obsidian melodies and claustrophobic motifs. Here Golding is offering the opposite. Something bright, catchy and brilliant. And this is the power of Golding’s playing. He has the ability, with a new note, to transport you somewhere delightful, or more delightful than Fratton station. ‘My Two Dads’ is more meditative than the opening but not by much. The song is clearly about something important to Golding, or he’s written a new theme tune to the 90s sitcom. Either way the results are dazzling. Empathy, and respect, swell from the speakers.
While Dream Like a Dog Wood Wild Boy might not be the album we we’re expecting, it is an exceptional listen. Golding showcases his deft touch on his horn and a wonderful ear for composition. The songs never outstay their welcome and after it’s finished, it’s easy to press play again and do it one more time. And it is with repeat listens that you really start to grasp the depth of the music. There are sections on ‘With What I Know Now’ that I didn’t pick up on after a first listen. So, what are you waiting for. Book yourself on a train journey and hope it gets delayed so you can bask in Golding’s glow while all about you lose their minds to the boredom of standing on train platforms waiting for trains that never come.
