Stir Q&A: Gordon Grdina on his trio's Winter Jazz performance, pandemic life, and nerves
The Vancouver group’s namesake, who joins Coastal Jazz’s annual fest, is a revered oud and guitar player
Gordon Grdina started playing guitar when he was nine. Photo by Jamie-Leigh Gonzales
Gordon Grdina Trio performs in Winter Jazz, the Coastal Jazz and Blue Society’s annual festival, on February 20 at 8 pm PST, streaming online.
EXTRAORDINARILY PROLIFIC, GORDON Grdina is a Juno award-winning oud and guitar player whose music spans everything from avant-garde jazz and free-form improvisation to contemporary indie rock and Arabic music.
Throughout his career, the Vancouver-based artist has performed and collaborated with genre-leading musicians such as Gary Peacock, Paul Motion, Marc Ribot, Mark Helias, Mats Gustafsson, Hank Roberts, Mark Feldman, Eyvind Kang, Mat Maneri, Christian Lilinger, Matt Mitchell, and Jim Black.
The Gordon Grdina Trio, which includes Tommy Babin on bass and Kenton Loewen on drums, has been performing together for the last 15 years. They have collaborated with top names in the improv scene, including Fredrik Ljunkgvist, Samuel Blaser, and Oscar Noriega.
On February 20, the Gordon Grdina Trio performs in Winter Jazz, the Coastal Jazz and Blue Society’s annual celebration presented with the support of CMHC Granville Island (running February 19 to 21). In the tradition of past festivals, the concerts are free of charge; the only difference this year is that they’re all online.
Streaming from Performance Works via Side Door, the Gordon Grdina Trio event is presented in association with the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.
Stir caught up with Grdina to hear more.
At any given time—at least, pre-pandemic—you could be working with so many different ensembles in addition to doing your solo work. What are you up to these days?
Photo by Farah Nosh
Pre-pandemic I had quite a few groups going… The Nomad Trio with Matt Mitchell and Jim Black; the Marrow with Hamin Honari, Mark Helias, Hank Roberts and Josh Zubot; Haram, a 10-piece Arabic avant-garde group with Emad Armoush, Jesse Zubot (Josh too when we can), Francois Houle, Chris Kelly, JP Carter, Liam MacDonald, Tim Gerwing, Tommy Babin, and Kenton Loewen; Square Peg with Mat Maneri, Shahzad Ismaily and Christian Lillinger; My quartet with Oscar Noriega, Russ Lossing, and Satoshi Takeishi; a trio with Matt Shipp and Mark Helias; Peregrine Falls (duo with Kenton Loewen); and my Septet with Tommy and Kenton, Jesse, Eyvind Kang and Peggy Lee... These are all still happening but are just on hiatus until people can travel.
Those are the main ones... There’s also a duo record with Jim Black that will be coming out this year, and a quartet with Japanese musicians Michiyo Yagi, Tamaya Honda, and Koichi Makagami... And another solo classical guitar and oud record, a new Nomad Trio and The Haram w. Marc Ribot record. I think that’s everything... All those records are pretty much finished and I'm just working out how and when to release them.
Since the pandemic I’ve been working slowly on a solo album of all Tim Berne's pieces, they're quite challenging so it's been a good thing to keep me busy. The Pandi has been good for family life, but I’ve had a few tours cancelled and am really excited about getting to play with Tommy and Kenton this weekend. There is something so different and important about playing with other people that I have been missing.
How are you coping with the effects of the pandemic?
Practicing has been giving me comfort as well as running on the sea wall at night. I've also started reading again, which I haven’t really found time to do in a while.
You started playing guitar around nine years of age because your brother was playing it; when and how did the oud come into your life, and what drew you to this instrument?
Yes, I was nine on guitar, and the oud I'd been listening to since I was 13 but didn't start playing until I got out of jazz school in 2000. I heard a Simon Shaheen and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt record and I was immediately blown away by the sound—so dark and beautiful.
What does the Gordon Grdina Trio have in store for the Winter Jazz program on February 20?
We have a very specific repertoire for the Trio that is so open that every time we play it's quite different. We've been playing together for so long that it's always immediately comfortable. We've basically made a list of tunes and are going to let the set list unfold as we hear it in the moment. That process helps keep the spontaneity.
"I feel very fortunate to be able to play a concert when so many people are unable to and am extremely grateful that Coastal asked us to play. There is a tension and nerves involved when we haven't played together in so long. That energy mixed with not having your main artistic outlet for almost a year is going to be really exciting and unique to this time. It will be amazing to get the music out and connect with people again."
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