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Gordon Grdina Septet: Resist
by Mike Jurkovic
It takes a leap of unconditional faith to enter wholly the resistance. A mindset steadied for the long haul, readied for the next. On his third, integral, must-listen-to release of 2020, Canadian oudist/guitarist/composer Gordon Grdina grandly, darkly, intently, espouses all that and more. Hellbent on creating art as a political act, the sprawling, at times majestic Resist follows the raw and persuasive Nomad (Skirl, 2020), an uncompromising trio outing with pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer Jim Black and the simultaneous ...
read moreGordon Grdina: Singular and Prolific
by Doug Collette
Gordon Grdina continues his singular and prolific career path with not one but two different recordings conducted with two separate musical ensembles. Accurate and vivid reflections of his eclectic mix of what is, in simplest terms, mainstream jazz, free/improv and Arabic music. Nomad Trio and Resist also build upon his background as protégé of jazz great Gary Peacock: Grdina has become a well-respected contributor to both the jazz and world music realms. For a point of comparison, the music on ...
read moreGordon Grdina: Safar-E-Daroon
by Mike Jurkovic
Safar e Daroon germinates from its dark, submerged interiors immediately and immediately brings you into the light. But a light of what? A lover's lamp? A hushed arena? An Australian wildfire? Take your pick and let your mind go. It's all going to happen and does so in spades on oudist Gordon Grdina's second go-round with his associates, The Marrow. As it has been on recent releases such as Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio> (Skirl, 2020) with pianist Matt ...
read moreJoining the Dots from Partisans to Joey Berkley
by Nick Davies
Joining the dots here is creating a musical image in the listeners mind rather like a puzzle. You start at one point and finish at another, the image is created. Musically there are improvisers like Rich Halley, a master in Avishai Cohen and the band Partisans each contributing to the final picture. Playlist Partisans “That's Not His Bag" from Nit De Nit (Whirlwind Recordings) 1:58 Hot Heroes “Nogalez" fromDays after the Rodeo (Eclipse Music) 07:54 Gordon Grdina ...
read moreGordon Grdina, Karl Berger & Jason Kao Hwang, Byron Asher & Colin Hinton
by Maurice Hogue
Vancouver's Gordon Grdina is masterfully adept at guitar and oud, so that flexibility leads to many possibilities for playing opportunities, from jazz and improv settings to his world music group, Haram. This episode finds Grdina opening things up with music from two very recent recordings: Skin and Bones (with Matthew Shipp and Mark Helias) and Cooper's Park with his Quartet (Russ Lossing, Satoshi Takeishi and Oscar Noriega). You'll also hear some state-of-the-art improvisation from violinist Jason Kao Hwang and pianist/vibraphonist ...
read moreGordon Grdina: Cooper's Park
by Mike Jurkovic
Cooper's Park's eighteen minute centerpiece crashes into energetic existence sounding like someone just remembered to push record while the ensemble was in high flight mid jam. Flailing majestically away, guitarist Gordon Grdina, alto saxophonist/bass clarinetist Oscar Noriega and pianist Russ Lossing are heard early working overtime on every level from solo to tag-team tandem, giving, taking, trading instigating and echoing the rush of melodies that inhabit the track's sprawling, malleable margins. Ignoring musical boundaries comes second nature to these guys ...
read moreGordon Grdina Quartet: Cooper's Park
by Troy Dostert
Since the release of his first album in 2006, Think Like the Waves (Songlines), Gordon Grdina has sought a musical language that would allow him to incorporate his dual interests in the electric guitar and the oud. It is tempting to view this as an “East meets West" process, wherein Grdina's jazz and rock-infused guitar playing melds somehow with the Arabic influences that typically contextualize oud performance. But that is not entirely accurate, as Grdina's recordings are more likely to ...
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