Today’s Sounds: Gordon Grdina’s Haram

Vancouver’s Gordon Grdina has long been one of Canada’s finest jazz and free improvising guitarists, but his recent projects draw from an increasingly wide palette. His Box Cutter quartet’s two Spool CDs from 2006 and 2007 display an economical compositional wit, dominated by short songs with lightning bolt melodies. His 2010 release, Barrel Fire with guest Mats Gustafson, added a skronking thunder to the storm, while the East Van Strings improvised around textures reminiscent of modern classical composers such as Webern and Bartok. Both of these featured Grdina on oud in addition to guitar, and both betrayed a strong Arabic influence, foreshadowing this most recent release.

Record

Gordon Grdina’s Haram, Her Eyes Illuminate (Songlines)

Vancouver’s Gordon Grdina has long been one of Canada’s finest jazz and free-improvising guitarists, but his recent projects draw from an increasingly wide palette. His Box Cutter quartet’s two Spool CDs from 2006 and 2007 display an economical compositional wit, dominated by short songs with lightning bolt melodies. His 2010 release, Barrel Fire with guest Mats Gustafson, added a skronking thunder to the storm, while the East Van Strings improvised around textures reminiscent of modern classical composers such as Webern and Bartok. Both of these featured Grdina on oud in addition to guitar, and both betrayed a strong Arabic influence, foreshadowing this most recent release.

“Haram” translates as “illicit” or “forbidden.” The 10-member ensemble specializes in traditional Iraqi folk tunes and Egyptian mid-20th-century orchestral pop. Similar in spirit to Sam Shalabi’s Land of Kush and John McLaughlin’s Shakti, Grdina subtly imbues the traditional songs with a modern sensibility. While Shalabi and McLaughlin tend to compose new works for their ensembles, there is only one original title here, a two-and-a-half-minute drum solo by Kenton Loewen. The rest of Her Eyes Illuminate features rearrangements of three Iraqi and six Egyptian tunes. The occasional swirling electronic noise, free-meter percussive intros and blowing sections may be considered haram by purists, but create a unique blend that permeates the CD.

Seven of the band members are Canadian avant-garde all-stars. Aside from Loewen and Grdina, François Houle is on clarinet, JP Cater on trumpet, Chris Kelly on sax, Jesse Zubot on violin and electronics and Tommy Babin on electric bass. Players versed in Arabic instruments include Tim Gerwing on darbuka (a single-head drum similar in shape to a djembe), Liam MacDonald on the  riq (a type of tambourine) and Emad Armoush on vocals and ney (Arabic flute). The record is consistently engaging, but the oud solo by Grdina on “Raqs al Jamal” (“Dance of Beauty”) and vocals by Armoush on “Tilli Edhakilo” (“Go Out and Laugh With Him”) are highpoints.

The original melodies are respected and the rolling percussion of the darbuka and riq add authenticity to the songs. Nevertheless, this record’s power stems largely from the squealing improvised backgrounds that conjure the wildest of the 1001 nights. A heady and potent mix. ■

Haram play with Fond of Tigers and Joe Grass at la Sala Rossa on Monday, Sept. 9, 8:30 p.m., $10–$12
 

Track:

Prince Rama, “So Destroyed”

This Brooklyn act’s next record is a crazy conceptual piece called Top 10 Hits of the End of the World (out Nov. 6 on Paw Tracks), wherein they assume the identity of 10 different fictional bands who topped the charts just prior to the (also fictional) apocalypse. On this song, they’re Rage Peace, a protest band formed in the ’90s that mercifully sounds nothing like the other Rage.
 
Prince Rama as Rage Peace – So Destroyed by Paw Tracks
 

Video:

Psy, “Gangnam Style”

Bieber’s manager just signed this South Korean superstar, who’s been reigning over YouTube in recent weeks. If you haven’t seen this magnificently insane video yet, you need to do it now, especially on what promises to be a bummer of an election night.
 

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