The Squid's Ear Magazine


Nomad Trio (feat Gordon Grdina / Matt Mitchell / Jim Black): Boiling Point (Astral Spirits)

The second release from guitarist and oud improviser Gordon Grdina's Boiling Point Trio with Matt Mitchell on piano and Jim Black on drums, following their excellent 2020 Martian Kitties album, solidified into a tight unit from touring, Grdina's writing showcasing each player's ability to improvise around complex rhythmic, harmonic, and melodically rich compositions.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Gordon Grdina-guitar, oud

Matt Mitchell-piano

Jim Black-drums


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Label: Astral Spirits
Catalog ID: AS201CD
Squidco Product Code: 32354

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at East Side Sound, in New York City, New York, by Marc Urselli.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Lately, Gordon Grdina has been one of the most restless musicians in the whole jazz world, churning out a profuse amount of mostly original material recorded with different ensembles and formats each time out; switching back and forth from the two instruments he has completely mastered, the guitar and the oud. So it's very telling that Grdina made it a point to return to a trio he debuted just two years earlier to reconvene and give us a second helping.

Boiling Point (Astral Spirits) is the sophomore release from Grdina's Nomad Trio, backed by the ablest of pianists and drummers, Matt Mitchell and Jim Black, respectively. The first time out with this crew - the self-titled Nomad - was pure delight from such a high degree of daring musicianship. Once again, Grdina throws out challenging charts and Mitchell and Black just gobble them up. As Grdina says, "I can write anything for this band."

The impossible songs begins right off with "Boiling Point" (stream above), a dense construction that nearly sounds like a Tim Berne song, which make erstwhile Berne sidemen Mitchell and Black perfect for this task. The support they provide to Grdina as his guitar solos over knotted chord progressions and whiplash tempo changes is a stunning, sonic carnival ride. "Parksville" pretty much goes the same way, but with even tighter integration between rhythm and harmony ... and it's so funky, too.

Like the first two tracks, Gordon Grdina introduces opening pattern alone for "Shibuya." Oftentimes we might hear the song explode into different directions when Mitchell and Black enter but this time they stay with the initial figure and let it slowly develop until Grdina dishes out a lissome solo prior to Mitchell discreetly nudging the song into a new motif.

"Cali-Lacs" is where the oud makes its appearance, an instrument Grdina has taken to the next level, turning the Middle Eastern mainstay into a more than a viable vessel of complex jazz. He uses it to mingle well with Mitchell and even Black is able to use his drums to tap directly into that convo without timekeeping.

Back on guitar, Grdina and the trio plays widely dispersed for the angular "Koen Dori," the leads from Grdina and Mitchell are often woven right into the melody. When things start to get a little chaotic, they are making sense out of it in unity.

Grdina is not yet done with his bag of tricks. For "All Caps," Mitchell plays a simple riff that serves as an underpinning for Black's hard rocking drumming. Grdina finally enters after more than two minutes of this, inserting jazzy licks as Mitchell adds complexity to that riff and Grdina himself is also pulling the song outside and from there it builds up to a frenzied ending.

There is no trio like Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio, where the vast talents of Grdina, Matt Mitchell and Jim Black are pushed to their limits and the best of each comes forth as a result. They are now even more congealed as a unit for Boiling Point, leading to more amazing and unpredictable performances."-S. Victor Aaron, Something Else Reviews


Get additional information at Something Else!

Artist Biographies

"Gordon Grdina (born 18 February 1977 ) is a Canadian jazz guitarist and oud player.

Grdina worked in the 2000s in Vancouver with his own formations; In 2002 he recorded his debut album The Grdina Trio (with James Danderfer and Simon Fisk). On his album Unlearn: Gordon Grdina's Box Cutter was also co-produced by Fran¨ois Houle. In 2006, Grdina presented the album Think Like the Waves in the trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, which combined elements of Arab music and jazz genres. In the field of jazz, he was involved in 14 recording sessions between 2001 and 2012.

Grdina works with his own trio (from Tommy Babin, bass, and Kenton Loewen, drums) as well as his ten-piece Haram ensemble, Mats Gustafsson, Tony Malaby, Mark Helias, Kent Kessler and Jeb Bishop. "

-Wikipedia (translated by Google) (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Grdina)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Matt Mitchell is a pianist and composer interested in the intersections of various strains of acoustic, electric, composed, and improvised new music. He currently composes for and leads several ensembles featuring many of the current foremost musicians and improvisers, including Tim Berne, Kim Cass, Caroline Davis, Kate Gentile, Ben Gerstein, Sylvaine Hélary, Jon Irabagon, Travis Laplante, Ava Mendoza, Miles Okazaki, Ches Smith, Chris Speed, Tyshawn Sorey, Chris Tordini, Anna Webber, Dan Weiss, and Katie Young.

He is an anchor member of several significant creative music ensembles which integrate composed and improvised music, including Tim Berne's Snakeoil, the Dave Douglas Quintet, John Hollenbeck's Large Ensemble, Rudresh Mahanthappa's Bird Calls, Jonathan Finlayson's Sicilian Defense, Dan Weiss's Large Ensemble, Steve Coleman's Natal Eclipse, the Darius Jones Quartet, Kate Gentile's Mannequins, Mario Pavone's Blue Dialect Trio, Anna Webber's Simple Trio, Ches Smith's We All Break, Michael Attias' Spun Tree, Ohad Talmor's Grand Ensemble, and Quinsin Nachoff's Flux. He is also among the core performers of John Zorn's Bagatelles.

Musicians with whom he performs and has performed include Jon Irabagon, Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth, John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet + 1, JD Allen, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green's Apex, Rez Abbasi's Invocation, Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Ralph Alessi's Baida Quartet, Dave King's Indelicate duo, Amir ElSaffar, Marc Ducret, David Torn, Vernon Reid, Clarence Penn and Penn Station, Linda Oh, Rudy Royston, Allison Miller, Donny McCaslin, Brad Shepik, and Darcy James Argue's Secret Society.

He has taught extensively with the Brooklyn-based School for Improvisational Music, as well as at the New School, NYU, and the Siena Jazz Workshop. He is also a 2015 receipient of a Doris Duke Impact Award and a 2012 recipient of a Pew Fellowship from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage."

-Matt Mitchell Website (http://www.mattmitchell.us/bio/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Jim Black is at the forefront of a new generation of musicians bringing jazz into the 21st century. In addition to being one of the most influential drummers of our time, he is also the leader of one of the world's most forward-thinking bands, AlasNoAxis, featuring his longtime collaborators Chris Speed, Hilmar Jensson and Skúli Sverrisson. Based on the foundation of his virtuosic but highly personal approach to jazz drumming, Black's aesthetic has expanded to include Balkan rhythms, rock songcraft and laptop soundscapes. Though he is revered worldwide for his limitless technique and futuristic concepts, what many listeners treasure in most Jim Black's work is the relentless feeling of joy and invention he brings to his performances. Jim Black's smiling, kinetic, unpredictable presence has enthralled and inspired audiences worldwide for over twenty-five years.

Since the mid-90's, Black has played a major role in the incorporation of new sounds and techniques into the jazz/creative music context. As a member of the collective group Pachora (with Speed, Sverrisson, and guitarist Brad Shepik) Black was one of the leaders in the study and adaptation of Balkan music into jazz-based music. His advanced techniques abstracted the odd time signatures of the Balkans into a new polyrhythmic language equally informed by modern jazz, drum&bass and the dumbeks of the Balkans. Black has also been an innovator in the use of electronics in improvisation, bridging the gap between electro-acoustic improv and more jazz-based traditions. Today, Black's performances are just as likely to feature his laptop-based electronic textures as his drumming.

Born in 1967, Jim Black grew up in Seattle alongside future colleagues Chris Speed, Andrew D'Angelo and Cuong Vu. After cementing their personal and artistic relationships in Seattle's various youth jazz ensembles, in 1985 they moved to Boston, where Black entered the Berklee School of Music. In Boston, Black, Speed and D'Angelo formed Human Feel with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, which rapidly attracted the attention of the jazz cognoscenti in Boston, New York and beyond.

By 1991, Black and the other members of Human Feel had moved to New York City, where they electrified the Downtown music scene then centered around the Knitting Factory and rapidly became among the city's busiest sidemen. Black's early years in New York saw him take featured roles in some of the most critically acclaimed bands of the time, like Tim Berne's Bloodcount, Ellery Eskelin's trio, and Dave Douglas's Tiny Bell Trio. Thus began fifteen years of near-constant touring and recording, with the above bands as well as artists like Uri Caine, Dave Liebman, Nels Cline, Steve Coleman, Tomasz Stanko, and Laurie Anderson.

-Jim Black Website (http://www.jimblack.com/Jim_Black_dotcom/BIO.html)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Boiling Point 6:36

2. Parksville 6:04

3. Shibuya 10:08

4. Cali-lacs 12:50

5. Koen Dori 5:57

6. All Caps 6:56

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Canadian Composition & Improvisation
Trio Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

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Astral Spirits.


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