The Isle
Tommy Crane; David Binney
Elastic Recordings/MythologyRecords ER 022 | MR29 (davidbinney.bandcamp.com/album/the-isle)
Tommy Crane is a Montreal based drummer/composer and saxophonist/composer David Binney lives in Los Angeles. They have played together several times over the years and collaborated on The Isle which was recorded in Montreal in 2023 and “draws inspiration from the city of Montreal itself—its atmosphere, rhythms, and cultural landscape. The city’s influence is evident not just in the album title, but in the pieces themselves, several of which are named after neighbourhoods.”
One of the album’s most noticeable strengths are the many atmospheric grooves which are both relaxing and engaging. Crane’s drumming gives each work a steady and entrancing pulse like the St. Lawrence which flows immutably past the busy island of Montreal with its vibrant culture, traffic and road construction. In fact, I can hear horns and brakes in the slightly apprehensive The Isle of Jam. Binney’s saxophone is lyrical and limber, sometimes providing long tones and then breaking into delightful flights of fluttering bop lines. The tonal palette is enhanced by several other musicians on flutes, bass, keyboards and guitar. The Isle creates a sense of expectant calm: you can relax to it, listen while driving or anywhere else you enjoy sampling a variety of evocative moods.
