Label: Attaboygirl Records, 2021
Personnel - Gordon Grdina: guitar, oud; Mat Maneri: viola; Shahzad Ismaily: bass, Moog; Christian Lillinger: drums.
The Vancouver-based guitarist and oud player Gordon Grdina is frequently involved in interesting projects (his recent duo recording with the drummer extraordinaire Jim Black is a highlight of 2021) melding experimental jazz and rock, free improv and eclectic-flavored new-music. As expected, the Square Peg quartet is planted on the left side of the jazz spectrum, featuring violinist Mat Maneri (David S. Ware, Matthew Shipp), bassist Shahzad Ismaily (Marc Ribot) and German drummer Christian Lillinger (Punkt.Vrt.Plastik).
Released on Grdina’s own label and presented as a continuous suite of modular pieces, Klotski kicks off with “Impending Discomfort”, whose patient, minimal and airy preamble insinuates indistinct directions. That’s until a repetitive, pulsating bass figure consolidates with a hi-hat/snare pattern, having the rock muscularity of the guitar granting space for beautiful viola dissonances. The ensemble roots for an art-rock stratosphere here.
“Sulfur City” draws special attention. Maneri’s bowed ostinato works well with the countermelody offered by Grdina, which also serves as harmonic reference. Everything is enclosed by the eerie atmospherics of Ismaily’s bass and the flapping sounds of Lillinger’s drumming. The piece then evolves into a noir indie rock with improvised guitar and Moog eruptions at the fore.
Dark tones are also spotted on “Bacchic Barge”, which plays like an atmospheric ballad spiced by microtones (viola and oud) before shading its texture through murky bowed bass; and “Sore Spot”, an elliptical ride with an insistent guitar outline and unobstructed improvisation. The eerie substratum of the latter differs from the lightness and looseness of the following track/section, “Joy Ride”, an electrifying 14-beat cycle fusion of progressive rock and Eastern sounds.
Another portion of music worthy of mention is “Kaleidoscope”, a polyrhythmic effort with a guitar ostinato in seven supporting thoughtful viola cries, and counting on some mesmeric, spasmodic rhythms laid down by Lillinger. It ends with a slower-than-expected pace.
Always with an inherent sense of lyricism and willing to build something meaningful, Grdina’s Square Peg explores abstract paths with musical clarity.
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Favorite Tracks:
04 - Sulfur City ► 05 - Kaleidoscope ► 08 - Joy Ride