Inroads

Gordon Grdina, Gordon Grdina Quartet

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Saxophonist-clarinetist Oscar Noriega (from Tim Berne’s Snakeoil), pianist Russ Lossing, and percussionist Satoshi Takeishi lock onto tightly-arranged, eclectic compositions by guitarist-composer Gordon Grdina and Grdina/Lossing. The crystal-clear 24/96 recording captures the full dynamics of the performances, from delicate solo piano passages to crunchy guitar-driven climaxes. A strong recommendation, especially in NativeDSD’s exclusive higher rate versions.
– Mark Werlin, NativeDSD and All About Jazz


Inroads combines intricate counterpoint with the ebb and flow of dynamic yet focused improvisation.

Grdina takes inspiration from the complexity of Bartok, the freedom of Ornette Coleman, the energy and logical construction of ideas in Soundgarden, and the delicacy of Webern. Grdina’s debut recording, Think Like the Waves, was a trio with his mentor Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, and there is something of that group’s deep improvised jazz roots at work here, along with the compositional, classical music bent of his East Van Strings project The Breathing of Statues and the intense rock playing of his instrumental duo Peregrine Falls.

Says Grdina: “I felt a strong inner urge to write music that was more unexpected, that didn’t repeat itself so much and was more challenging than what I had been playing. Forms can sometimes feel like you’re being strangled and talked down to. I wanted the music to continually move, feeling free but clearly directed. Compositionally this also came out of the work I’d done with Gary Peacock but in a very different way.

We worked a lot on composition being a distilled idea that is the germ that sparks improvisation. I wanted to see what would happen if I composed the development of the ideas, keeping the same focused writing style. The musicians came together over a two-year process of getting more involved in the NY scene. Oscar, Russ and Satoshi are all amazing, incredibly well rounded, multi-faceted musicians with unique voices. It’s not easy music to grasp fully while you’re playing it, as it is very contrapuntal.

Each instrument is focused on their own part and it takes a while before you hear it click with the other lines and the logic becomes apparent. I hear so many connections to so many genres in this music and from these musicians. What it demands though is deep listening. There are moments where it is energetic and in your face, bringing the music to you, but it always goes back in, requiring the listener to come closer and bring their own experience to it.”


Gordon Grdina- guitar, oud
Oscar Noriega – alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet
Russ Lossing- piano, rhodes
Satoshi Takeishi – drums

Tracklist

Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.
1.
Giggles
04:03
2.
Not Sure
11:38
3.
P.B.S.
08:10
4.
Semantics
02:30
5.
Fragments
09:35
6.
Casper
05:45
7.
Kite Fight
01:57
8.
Apocalympics
09:38
9.
Giggles II
04:23

Total time: 00:57:39

Additional information

Label

SKU

SGL16242

Qualities

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Channels

Artists

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Composers

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Genres

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AD Convertor

Lynx Aurora

Audio Engineer

John Raham

Mastering

Mastered by Chris Gestrin.at Public Alley 421.

Mixing

John Raham at Afterlife, Vancouver BC.

Instruments

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Original Recording Format

Release DateSeptember 13, 2024

Press reviews

NativeDSD Album Review

Inroads, a quartet album on which Grdina performs almost entirely on guitar, opens with a calm meditation by pianist Russ Lossing that focuses the listener’s attention for the challenging music to follow.

New York Music Daily

…with his quartet of reedman Oscar Noriega, pianist Russ Lossing and percussionist Satoshi Takeishi blends haunting Middle Eastern chromatics with savage improvisation and even detours into snarling doom metal and Lynchian cinematics. This is deep, dark music.

TheWholeNote

Some of the most affecting pieces are also models of brevity. Kite Flight is a tantalizing explosion of lower register guitar, raucous bass clarinet and elemental percussion, while Semantics, a guitar/clarinet duet, is subtly evanescent. That same delicacy informs the longer Fragments in its blend of piano and oud, while contrasting Middle Eastern elements energize Apocalympics. It’s a fascinating program in which Grdina takes his materials in very different directions.

Vancouver Sun

This ace New York-based quartet of saxophonist Oscar Noriega, pianist Russ Lossing and drummer Satoshi Takeishi is by no means soft. Songs from Not Sure, with its marvellously skittish lines, to the free-form Kite Flight are ripping. But the lush and melodic atmospherics of P.B.S. or the spacious Casper are the truly exciting new directions for Grdina’s music expressed on this lovely recording.

PopMatters

This is the fourth release by Gordon Grdina that I’ve reviewed, and he’s proven to be a tough entity to pin down. He can be a tender writer but his sound can be challenging. Ferocity can get in the way of other traits for some listeners. Yet the effort to dig around inside of Barrel FireNo Difference, and Her Eyes Illuminate paid dividends. Those releases were both bold and good. Inroads is bold and downright great.

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