Jan 31 2014
The Safety Net: Gordon Grdina’s East Van Strings – “The Breathing of Statues”
There is a formless quality to The Breathing of Statues, a sense that the varied articulations contributed by the four members of Gordon Grdina’s East Van Strings present an immediate obstacle to tethering this music to any one influence, while simultaneously forging a sonic identity through a collaborative sheer force of will.
Grdina had Bartok in mind when he began writing the music for this recording. At the same time, he was immersing himself, and his oud, in Arabic music forms. He enlisted three musicians he’d had fulfilling experiences playing free improvisation with. Each of these musicians brought to the table their own influences and backgrounds, in classical, in folk, in avant-garde, in minimalism and ambient drone. And then, with Grdina’s compositional framework in hand, they came together to collaborate, to improvise, to record this music. It goes a long way to explaining why this album sounds like many things at once while sounding like only itself, a singular expression of that moment.
Your album personnel: Gordon Grdina (electric guitar, oud), Eyvind Kang (viola), Jesse Zubot (violin), and Peggy Lee (cello).
Opening track “Selma” is an extended sigh. Grdina’s oud lightly treads a path through warm gentle tides of harmonics. This lovely atmospheric bliss is only touched upon a few more times, most notably on “Nayeli Joon,” which begins as a collection of dispersed harmonies, untethered from one another, coalescing into a thread of beauty, endless. There is also the title-track “The Breathing of Statues,” which intersperses the rich harmonic waves with Grdina’s oud delving into the Arabic influence, specifically via the maqam mode, an approach in which the melody is key, both for construction of the song, but also as the launching pad for improvisation.
The blissful sound’s opposite side is also explored by the quartet. “Silence of Paintings” is turbulence and chaos. “Holy Departure,” the album’s second track, clashes with previous track “Selma,” and, initially, the strings clash amongst themselves before their slash and burn tactics emerge as a collaborative effort. “Webern” enters the room strong and abrupt, then comes to a lurching stop, wobbling back and forth, directionless, standing in place but constantly in motion.
And then there are those tracks that fall somewhere in between the two extremes of harmonic bliss and atonal dissonance. “Santiago” is music of the great expanse… the sensation of tiny sounds massively resonant in a sea of tentative silence. And “Wide Open,” which concludes the recording, spaces out its varied expressions, but bridges the gaps across the silence with warped notes bent into strange beautiful forms and bursts of shattered melody that behave as stepping stones across a river of choppy rhythmic waves.
A compelling album, not easily categorized, and willing to put itself fully on display. An album possessing no reservations.
Released in 2009 on Songlines Recordings.
Download a free album track at the Songlines site, courtesy of the artist and label.
Music from the Vancouver, BC scene.
Available at: eMusic | Amazon CD
The Safety Net, a Bird is the Worm series that highlights outstanding older albums that may have flown under the radar when first released.
Other Things You Should Probably Know:
I recently published a review of Grdina’s recent release No Difference, which possesses a different sound than Breathing, and compelling in its own way. Read HERE.
Cellist Peggy Lee‘s last recording, Invitation, received the #7 slot on the Bird is the Worm Best of 2012 list. It’s one of many of her recordings I enjoy. Read a review HERE.
Eyvind Kang has been involved with some of Bill Frisell’s best recordings (among other projects, including albums under his own name). If you see his name listed in the personnel, you should strongly consider purchasing the album asap.
Jesse Zubot is the founder of the Drip Audio label, which has released albums reviewed on this site by Peggy Lee and Ratchet Orchestra. Check ’em out, HERE.
And if you want to hear another recording that utilizes the maqam approach to music, check out the self-titled debut of Nashaz, which received the #30 slot on the Bird is the Worm Best of 2013 list. Review HERE.
*****
If I had to point to one album that exemplified the thriving state of Jazz, and its undeniable hope for the future, it would be The Imaginary Delta. By mixing traditional instruments and forms with modern instruments and composition, Fairhall is simultaneously forward-thinking while still tending to the roots of Jazz’s past. And, really, both those things are important. Jazz is about tradition, just as Jazz is about innovation. Most jazz musicians are able to do one of those things well, a smaller group are able to do one of those things great… but it’s a rare thing for an artist to do both of those things, simultaneously, great. Fairhall has done that here. Inventive music that echoes the spirit of Charles Mingus. The Bird is the Worm 2012 Album of the Year. 
A trio of piano, vocals, and bass clarinet/sax. A storytelling flair that could give Tom Waits a run for his money. Heartbreak stories about hopeless cases who can’t stop hoping for the best. Siskind has plenty of page-turning moments on keys, but doesn’t hog the spotlight from his trio mates. Harms has a way with vocals that give jawdropping turns of vulnerability and disarming playful missives. Pino charms on bass clarinet, and provides a noir-ish ambiance to an album that is moody as hell. Also, what you hear on the album is what you get live… the trio is just as evocative in a live setting. One of those albums that just seems to materialize out of thin air, full of intensity and presence.
From a live performance while on tour, Robbins brings a studio warmth to the vivid persona of a live recording. Robbins knows how to giftwrap a complex melody into a simple present, and it’s the highlight of this album. Interplay between quartet members an added bonus, but it’s the tunefulness of the album tracks that makes this recording so damn addictive. I already had a pretty strong like of past Robbins’ recordings, but he really upped the bar to my mind with this release. Robbins is making his mark.
Jesse van Ruller’s trio of guitar, bass clarinet, and bass brings the moodiness of the Netherlands scene full-on, and applies it to a chamber jazz format. Sparse and haunting, yet so full of warmth. Quiet music for quiet moments, but performed in a way to keep the brain’s synapses fully occupied. This album has been in regular rotation on my stereo since I first discovered it, and it’s showing no signs of going away. I’m a fan of sleepy music, but it’s the albums that also let some life shine through that gain my esteem. One of those albums that does more with less.
The music of Paul Motian isn’t an easy safe to crack, possessing a quiet strength that’s both subtle and obtuse. Drummer Jeff Cosgrove found a way in, however, and came back out with his own sound and vision of Motian’s music. With an overt bluegrass/folk sheen to his jazz interpretations, Cosgrove’s ensemble found the right mix of haunting warmth to do honor the late great drummer, while also bringing a unique recording to the table. This is the type of album I listen to only on occasion but when I do, I completely immerse myself in it. This music is self-contained, like losing oneself for a short time in a little-known far-away place. Very cool.
Based on a book that gave the freedom to approach the story in different ways, so it goes on Rayeula that complexities and wrinkles are woven into the fabric of beautifully textured music. This is one of those recordings that dropped my jaw the first time I heard it, then slowly displayed other, more subtle reasons to appreciate it over the course of time. Zenon increasingly establishes himself as one of the premier voices in Jazz on saxophone, and Coq shows himself to be the perfect foil on piano, counterbalancing Zenon’s fire with some keyboard ice. The inspired decision to include Dana Leong on cello and trombone, and add tabla and various other percussion to Dan Weiss’s ensemble responsibilities both add elements to the music that imbues it with a vibrant color that elevates this album up a notch. Challenging music that is simple to enjoy.
I’m enamored with the premise of building an album around compositions based on the children’s lullaby “Twinkle Twinkle.” It’s the right kind of clever. However, while there is a soothing nighttime quality to this music, these ain’t song to fall asleep to. When I first sat down to listen to this recording, my assumption is that it would be something not unlike an ECM piano trio snoozer. But, actually, most tracks are quite lively, and far more representative of Babel Label’s inventive catalog of releases. Solid, from first note to last.
Threads Orchestra’s sophomore release leaves behind much of the genre-warping it artfully performed on its debut Threads, and instead focus on a seamless mix of jazz, classical, and folk as its vehicle for presenting some of the more compelling music on the scene. A cinematic presence with a theatrical flair, the album reflects the music for unperformed theater as dreamt up in composer Jonathan Brigg’s head. This ensemble has proven over the course of two albums that they won’t hesitate to experiment without having to compromise making their music an effortless listen.
There’s a relentlessness to this album that’s always appealed to me. It can be felt even when di Benedetto’s ensemble takes to the sky to soar or when it slows things down to slowly crunch over earth. A straight-ahead recording that should appeal to both new and old-schoolers alike.
This is music in motion. This is music that flows with grace, whether expressing a calm nature or something more on the wild side. Yokai, the excellent release by drummer Anne Paceo, makes its mark by establishing a lovely fluidity despite having many different parts in play.
On Oskar Schönning‘s 2012 release, The Violin, he cooks up a recipe that is one-half old-school bop and one-half modern Nordic jazz, and he presents them slowly, one at a time, like photos in a slideshow, one after the other, joined not by music elements, but by the totality of the story.
Jan 17 2019
Best of 2018 #12: Peggy Lee Band – “Echo Painting”
Released on Songlines Recordings.
Music from Vancouver, Canada.
I wrote about this album for Bird is the Worm and The Bandcamp Daily.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon
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By davesumner • Recap: Best of 2018 • 0 • Tags: Cello, Jazz - Best of 2018, Peggy Lee, Songlines Recordings, Vancouver