A protégé of jazz great Gary Peacock, he is a well respected contributor to the jazz and world music scenes constantly being sought out for projects that need a fresh sound.
Songlines has just released "Think Like the Waves" a special SACD that is the culmination of all of Gordon 's artistic endeavors. The band is Gary Peacock - Bass, Paul Motian -Drums and Gordon Grdina -Guitar & Oud.
His main touring ensemble Box Cutter is a genre bending modern Jazz quartet featuring François Houle. They Have just signed a two CD deal with Spool and will be releasing their debut CD "Unlearn" in October 2006
East Van Strings is a guitar/oud, violin, viola and cello quartet that is inspired by Bartok, Berg and Arabic Taqasim. The other members of the ensemble are Jesse Zubot, Peggy Lee, and Eyvind Kang. They are touring and recording in December for an early 2007 CD debut.
He plays the Oud in the Arabic/Persian/Indian ensemble Sangha. They are touring in support of their debut CD "Omid" and preparing to record with Virtuoso Persian Classical and Balouchi singer Fatieth Honari.
Maqam an oud, violin, bass, and percussion ensemble explores Iraqi folk melodies from a contemporary improvisational perspective. They are performing locally in preparation for their CD.
On Guitar Gordon leads the groove trio Loose Acoustic www.looseacoustic.com they have two CD's under their belt and are currently managed by Turner Music and Events. They are mixing their next release for Maximum Jazz.
As a freelance musician Gordon has performed or recorded with Eyvind Kang, Paul Motian, Gary Peacock, John Stowell, Francois Houle, Jesse Zubot, Chuck Isreals, Reza Honari, Amir Haghighi, Andy Milne, Mariam Matossian, Kate Hammett-Vaughan, Chris Gestrin, Karin Plato, Quinsin Nachofff, Peggy Lee, and Dylan Van der Schyff.
Quotes
…Grdina is a voracious listener drawing on Arabic Classical music, contemporary jazz, and open improv…everything moves in endless cycles of interaction…there's something revelatory about the album's unflinching hypnotic core…Greg Buium (Downbeat)
… greater than the sum of its parts… a guitar trio that covers a whole lot of ground in celebrating the timeless virtues of subtle, intuitive interplay-and celebrates the eternal joy of conclusively making its point without raising its collective voice. Nic Jones
(All About Jazz)
…Think Like the Waves, is a testament to the sublime music that can be created by musicians who listen to each other and converse in the moment…a tour de force performance by a group whose playing seems as organic as breathing…Grdina is able to ride these waves easily, with Zen-like calm… Highly recommended. Jazzitude.com
#2...a product of his musical conception, a combination of mainstream jazz, free-form improvisation and Arabic classical music. The resulting music is one of the most refreshing styles of jazz I've ever heard... and their collective improvisation is superb...John Matouk "Top Ten Brilliant Alternative Jazz Albums"
...Grdina's guitar lines, clean of tone with hint of a Jim Hall-ish angularity, are very much at home...it's evident that some higher level communication is going on...Mark Saleski (BlogCritics Magazine)
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Gordon Grdina's latest Trio release '...if accident will' finds him teamed up with vancouver musicians, Tommy Babin and Kenton Loewen. Continuing with themes from his 2006 release with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, and his much applauded Box Cutter release of 2007, 'if accident will' takes his trio writing and improvisation to the next level. Due late August 2008.
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Grdina Trio
Featuring:
Gordon Grdina - guitar
James Danderfer - clarinet
Simon Fisk - double bass