Reza is the debut album of Canadian, Vancouver-based, ever-versatile guitarist and oud player Gordon Grdina’s new, contemporary Persian quintet, Qalandar. It features Grdina focusing on the oud only, the late Reza Honari on the spike violin kamanche, Ali Razmi on the string instrument setar, Hamin Honari (who plays in Grdina’s The Marrow) on the percussion instruments (tombak and daf), and Grdina’s long-time collaborator, drummer Kenton Loewen, who is also a skilled tabla player. The album is dedicated to Reza Honari, «father (of Hamin Honari), husband, friend, mentor, and his boundless dedication to art and beauty».
This ensemble emerged out of a regular Monday night residency. It innovates the classical Persian and Arabic modal tradition with Western, jazz-tinged improvisational tactics and grooves, and contemporary compositional strategies. The album was recorded live at China Cloud in Vancouver shortly before Reza Honai’s passing in 2023, capturing him shining in this performance. Grdina’s irreverent oud playing is highlighted in his own compositions, «Morning Moon», and the ensemble’s deeply emotional lament, «Gaza». Qalandar is a musical collective that relies on intimate and respectful dynamics, which honor the tradition but are not bound by it, opening it to new possibilities. But, most importantly, Qalandar knows how to offer an ecstatic, universal experience that feeds and uplifts the soul, making us want to be more aware and responsible for each other.
Ash is the third album of Grdina’s Nomad Trio with American prolific pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer Jim Black, recorded at Eastside studio in New York. Grdina alternates on this album between the electric guitar and the oud.
The album features six pieces composed by Grdina. All suggest complex and intricate architectures that often correspond with Tim Berne’s aesthetics (with whom both Michael and Black played), all possess distinct inner logic, and all demand sharp instincts, exploratory, and elaborate rhythmic conception. These pieces benefit from the Nomad Trio’s accumulated experience, camaraderie, and a strong need to expand its sonic palette. The trio has established its clever equilibrium – Michaell’s piano playing adds a restrained, thoughtful dimension to the trio’s intense dynamics, Black adds urgent, hyperactive rhythmic energy, and Grdina steers the elastic, layered compositions with a restless, thorny edge. «Huzam» (titled after an Arabic maqam) and «Ejdhea» (titled after a mythical Persian dragon), with Grdina on the oud, set the traditional maqam-like scales on steroids, employ Black’s Balkan-like rhythmic patterns, and feature Michael’s brilliant abstraction of these odd-meter patterns. The last, title piece captures the trio in its most fiery, cathartic energy.
American jazz pianist Russ Lossing played in Grdina’s Quartet, where Grdina alternated between guitar and oud. On Turnpike, Grdina focuses only on the oud. The idea for such an acoustic duo occurred during the Quartet’s performance in Poland, when they finished all their repertoire for repeated encores, prompting an impromptu oud–piano duet. Over time, Grdina and Lossing shared a body of their original compositions plus a cover of Paul Motian’s «Etude» (with whom Lossing worked extensively and Grdina collaborated on his debut album). The album was recorded at Skyline Productions in Warren, New Jersey.
There is a sense of constant, vibrant negotiation between Grdina’s Eastern oud and Lossong’s Western piano, attempting to blur and dissolve musical traditions, conventions, or geographical borders. The interplay is organic, intense, and clever, much more powerful than the contemporary oud and piano interplay of Anour Brahem with Djano Bates or of Tania Giannouli and Kyriakos Tapakis. Grdina and Lossing keep challenging each other with more and more complex gestures, and perform with captivating elegance and humor. On most pieces, Grdina’s oud fully adapts to the jazz sensibility and invites Lossing’s piano to timeless musical games, but «Drench» takes Lossing on an enchanting tour in magnificent Eastern gardens, cementing his singular, inclusive musical vision. They conclude with the openly emotional, touching ballad, «Breezy».
Eyal Hareuveni
Gordon Grdina (oud, guitar), Reza Honari (kamanche), Ali Razmi (setar, vocals), Hamin Honari (tombak, daf), Kenton Loewen (drums), Matt Michael (piano), Jim Black (drums), Russ Lossing (piano)
