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Gordon Grdina: Intuitive Idiosyncrasy
by Doug Collette
Prolific as is Gordon Grdina, he never falls prey to pointless repetition. When the Canadian multi-instrumentalist/composer/bandleader does deign to return to familiar realms, it's with a purpose, so he and his collaborators all bring fresh viewpoints and open minds in order to nurture that spirit of the moment air of continuous surprise. And Grdina relishes the intimate direct communication available in a small combo as much as the more expansive multi-leveled dialogues available in a large(r) ensemble. Thus, it's only ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina: Pathways
by Mike Jurkovic
Unlike most of our country where we can not even share the same basic facts and truths, musicians intuitively seek out, discover and discourse in an integral, common language. Pathways revels in and celebrates that common vocabulary. Enjoying what could be the most prolific and adventurous period of his Juno Award-winning career, guitarist/oudist Gordon Grdina's sixth recording in just under a year, including the brazenly alluring Boiling Point (Astral Spirits, 2022) and the hypnotic Oddly Enough: The Music ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina: Night's Quietest Hour
by Mark Corroto
Gordon Grdina might be proof of the saying “you can't keep a good man down." With Night's Quietest Hour he turns his attention once again to traditional Iraqi and Arabic folk music. This release by his small big band Haram follows Her Eyes illuminate (Songlines, 2012) and includes a guest appearance by Marc Ribot. Much like Ribot's forays into Cuban music with his Los Cubanos Postizos and Frantz Casseus' Haitian compositions, Grdina aspires for musical authenticity without being patronizing. And, ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina: Boiling Point
by Mike Jurkovic
For all its unstinting muscularity, feverish virtuosity and concentrated interplay, Canadian guitarist/oudist Gordon Grdina's first of two simultaneous summer releases, Boiling Point, could easily have been entitled Shock and Awe or Scorched Earth or perhaps even Ground Zero. Because as densely and wirily structured as these six Grdina comps are, Lower East Side piano legend Matt Mitchell and equally lauded drummer Jim Black bash away to the heart of matter, clearing the way for Grdina to crunch, skronk, and ruminate ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina's Nomad Trio: Boiling Point
by Dan McClenaghan
Even if Gordon Grdina does not release another album in 2022, the year should be considered as the time when it all came together for the Vancouver-based guitarist and oud-ist. Oddly Enough: The Music Of Tim Berne, Night's Quietest Hour and Pathways, all on Attaboygirl Records, were released in the first six month of 2022--a productive time. Add to that Boiling Point, the second outing by Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio. Grdina's artistry is hard to pin down. Free ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina/Mark Helias/Matthew Shipp: Pathways
by Dan McClenaghan
Gordon Grdina, guitarist and oud player, has cranked things up into high gear in terms of CD release productivity. This is a good thing. When artists regularly release albums--two to four or five or six a year, which was common during Blue Note Records' heyday in the late 1950s and early 60s--their artistry evolves more quickly. Grdina, at the halfway mark of 2022, has already offered up four albums for the year, an output that has lifted his artistry into ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina: Oddly Enough: The Music Of Tim Berne
by Dan McClenaghan
Saxophonist Tim Berne farms out some of his music—oddly, since, considering his work with his groups Blood Count, Big Satan and Snakeoil, etc., his original compositions could be considered some of the least coverable sounds out there. The typical Tim Berne album growls and howls, careens around ninety degree turns, caterwauls and fires sonic laser beams that could cut through granite, all within the relatively narrow confines of a sharply focused vision—like a free-swinging brawl confined to a narrow alley. ...
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