Based in Vancouver, BC, Gordon Grdina plays jazz/classical guitar and the exotically tuned oud on this pair of albums in different settings.
The first is a solo affair, displaying in rich lights the fragrance of the nylon strings. The oud broods through the Middle Eastern atmospheres of “The Chase” and bluesy “Wayward” with a rich exoticism. On the classical guitar, he sounds Cumberland Gap folksy on “Always Been The Song II” while creating rich flamenco sketches on the glorious “Koen Dori”. Reflective water lilies.
Grdina becomes part of a group with Mat maneri/viola, Shahzad Ismaily/b-mood and Chrisitan Lillinger/dr for an 8 part continuous piece that his high on improvisation and intuition. The separation of the “songs” is fairly arbitrarily chosen, with lots of fragments trying to fit together on “Escheiran”, Lillinger tapping out a direction on”Kaleidoscope” and Grdina delving into acid rock on “Sulfur City”. With Maneri’s viola, the group at times sounds like vintage King Crimson, hitting hard with sharp angles as on ‘Microbian Theory” and “Joy Ride”. 21st Century Schizoid men?