Accent on Axis

When New West Symphony maestro Boris Brott strikes up the band this weekend, the program will situate itself along a Hollywood-Canada axis. Violinist James Ehenes is from Canada, as are Brott and young violinists Lara and Scott St. John, soloists with the orchestra earlier this year.

The 23-year-old Ehenes will perform the Violin Concerto of the late, great Erich Korngold, a “serious” composer who fled Nazi Germany and wound up in Hollywood, where he did his best-known work for film scores.

Also on the program will be the overture to Carl Maria von Weber’s famed German romantic opera “Der Freischutz” and Brahms’ fourth symphony.

In other New West news, Brott’s contract has been extended at least through June 2002. In the symphony’s four seasons, Brott has commandeered the orchestra over a course that has been sometimes rocky, especially in the tender early stage. But it has also been an artistically rewarding ride, and the orchestra keeps improving.

DETAILS

New West Symphony, 8 tonight at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 800 Hobson Way. Tickets $8-$36; 643-8646. Repeats at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Tickets $8-$55; 449-2787.

The strikingly original alto saxophonist Dave Binney, raised in Ventura and a fixture on the New York and international scene for more than a decade, continues to make strides in the jazz world, in his own time, in his own way.

Binney has appeared on numerous albums by others and on his own, including a few with his co-led post-fusion band, Lost Tribe. That band debuted on the Windham Hill label with a project produced by Steely Dan’s Walter Becker.

Binney has gained increasing attention for his sharp, smart approach to his instrument and to music in general. Still, frustrated by the limited opportunities for jazz outside a fairly narrow stylistic bandwidth, Binney did what many artists have done over the years: started his own label, Mythology Records.

He had help, of course, including valuable logistical assistance from his mother, Dolores Binney, who lives in Carpinteria. The label has an online presence, as well, at www.mythologyrecords.com.

A year and a half ago, the label was launched with a strong first effort by the quartet Lan Xang. The band, co-led by Binney, is a two-saxophone, acoustic bass and drum lineup. It played in Ventura on a West Coast sweep last fall.

The latest news on the Binney front is “Free to Dream,” a fascinating new album under Binney’s own name. An ambitious endeavor recorded in 1996, with up to a dozen musicians, it beautifully showcases Binney’s gifts as composer and player, and has recently met with critical kudos in Down Beat magazine and elsewhere.

As a thoughtful, left-of-center project, the album may not have great commercial potential in the increasingly stratified realms of jazz radio and media stateside--European ears tend to be more open. But this is clearly an album deserving wide recognition.

The handsome and wistful tune “Goddess” opens the song set with its syncopated lines and wistful harmonies spread over the ensemble with a touch somewhat reminiscent of Gil Evans’ arranging.

On a local note, the tune “Jalama”--after the surfer’s haven near Lompoc--is one of the more lyrical pieces, in which a gentle theme is laid atop rippling arpeggios, with harmonic colors that suggest Erik Satie. “Oddman” kicks off with an improvised tete-a-tete between Binney and drummer Kenny Wolleson, slipping gracefully into the formal, written-out chart. “Sea of Allurement,” the closing track, also launches on improvisational turf before the thematic foundation enters later in the piece, defying standard jazz structure.

Bursts of intensity are scattered throughout the album; but often as not, the mood is restrained and emotional, as with the short reflective piece “I Lie Waiting,” a solo for pianist Ed Simon (another stunning talent, who has his own album out on Mythology). On the title cut, its melody slowly builds from a soft murmur to an anthem-like declaration at the end.

From its earnest musical performance to its overall musical conception, “Free to Dream” seems driven by an independent spirit, fittingly for an album on an artist-run label. Binney remains a jazz figure worth watching, even if it requires some digging.