Binker Golding stops off at Middlesbrough

    The acclaimed saxophonist appears with Noya Rao and the Francis Tulip Quartet at Middlesbrough Town Hall this weekend

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    Saxophonist Binker Golding, a prominent name in the ongoing fascination with young jazz performers, goes north to Teesside this month as part of his European tour. Golding and his band will headline an afternoon of eclectic contemporary jazz at Middlesbrough Town Hall on Sunday 17 November. 

    Jazz has sparked new and substantial media interest in recent times as younger musicians have adopted it, feeding in their experience of other music. London-based Binker Golding has been at the forefront of this movement since his breakthrough as half of the MOBO-winning duo Binker and Moses, with fellow musician and drummer Moses Boyd. Binker and Moses were noted for their intense, virtuosic performances, also earning a Parliamentary Jazz Award for best breakthrough act.

    This year Golding’s quartet album Abstractions Of Reality Past & Incredible Feathers was released and drew the following observations from Derek Ansell at Jazz Journal: “Golding frequently builds his solo statements up slowly to a spellbinding intensity and then slows the tempo with reflective, lyrical passages before returning to a hard-edged finale … This music is fresh and invigorating, continuing the best and most innovative of the hard-bop style”.

    Joining Binker is the up and coming electronic-soul trio, Noya Rao. Fresh out of Leeds College of Music, the band have been endorsed by Gilles Peterson and Jamie Cullum. Support comes from local rising talent The Francis Tulip Quartet. 

    Speaking ahead of his forthcoming Middlesbrough show, Binker said “The good people of the North-East can expect something closer to the jazz of the late 50s and early 60s with a hint of modernism thrown in, contrasting with my earlier work with Binker & Moses & Elliot Galvin. The quartet is a typical jazz line-up of piano, double bass, drums and tenor saxophone. There’s also some shades of the fusion music of the 70s in there”.

    “I’ve performed in Hull and Newcastle before, but I don’t think I’ve ever performed in Middlesbrough so I’m really looking forward to putting that right. The memories I’ve had of performing in the North are positive ones. I find that people there are a lot more open and friendly than in my home city of London. I like the mentality of how they party on a Friday and a Saturday!”

    Sunday Jazz programmer Ros Rigby added “Unlike some of the other bands we have presented so far at Sunday jazz, these are from the younger generation – they are all gaining a strong following from a younger audience in addition to regular jazz fans. 

    “I first saw tenor sax player Binker Golding as part of the duo Binker and Moses. His newly formed band offers perhaps a mellower and more melodic sound, and Binker’s own playing is always terrific. Noya Rao from Leeds cross over from jazz into electronica. I saw them at Sage Gateshead earlier this year and really enjoyed their sound and particularly the singing of Olivia Bhattacharjee”.

    The Sunday afternoon show is part of Middlesbrough Town Hall’s monthly programme of jazz. Other forthcoming concerts Paul Edis’s Jazzy Christmas (15 December), Burns Night Jazz Special (19 January), Arun Ghosh (16 February) and Nikki Iles Jazz Orchestra (29 March).

    Binker Golding (ft. Noya Rao and the Francis Tulip Quartet) will perform at Middlesbrough Town Hall on Sunday 17 November from 2-6 pm. Tickets can be purchased for £12 (plus booking fee) and all under 14s must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets are available here. For more information and to learn more about other events at Middlesbrough Town Hall visit middlesbroughtownhall.co.uk.

    This article was prepared with the assistance of the promoter.