Gordon Grdina's The Marrow: Ejdeha
Songlines

Preceded by the world music group Sangha, Persian-oriented Qalandar, and Arabic tenet Haram, The Marrow isn't the first oud-based unit Gordon Grdina's led, but it's arguably the most intimate. In the former groups, his approach orients itself around honouring the history and traditions of the musical area in question while also providing a comfortable framework for the musicians to operate within. A similar mindset is in play in The Marrow, but its quartet formation allows for a quieter dynamic range and telepathic interactions; that the group's focus is also Grdina's original compositions (though ones based on classical Arabic and Persian modes) as opposed to arrangements of traditional pieces also makes for a highly personalized result.

The project began as a trio with bassist Mark Helias and cellist Hank Roberts that Grdina assembled for an oud summit in New York, but became a quartet with the addition of Vancouver-based Persian percussionist Hamin Honari, with whom Grdina has performed for nearly fifteen years in groups such as Sangha and Qalandar. With bass, cello, and tombak part of the mix (Honari also plays daf and frame drum on the recording), the quartet's sound inhabits the low end more than the high, but the timbral properties of the instruments lend themselves well to clear separation.

Some releases in Grdina's discography feature him on both oud and guitar; Ejdeha, on the other hand, sees him playing oud exclusively, which makes for a highly cohesive result. Though a Middle Eastern vibe permeates much of the material, jazz improvisation threads its way into the playing, too, making Ejdeha a cross-over where East-meets-West in the truest sense. With the settings referencing maqams such as Nava, Bayati, Rast, and Saba (names derived from classical Persian modes), the album clearly shows he's no dabbler. Yet as considered as the pieces are compositionally, they never feel laboured or academic; instead, an organic, free-flowing feel infuses the performances, such that one comes away struck by the players' interactions and less mindful of the structural foundations. So natural is the result, the listener wouldn't perhaps be aware that quarter-tone tunings are present without being informed otherwise.

“Telesm” eases the listener into the recording in low-key manner, the eight-minute setting notable above all else as a showcase for Grdina's remarkable oud playing. The simpatico nature of the players also establishes itself powerfully in the subtle support Helias and Honari provide the leader and Roberts during their solos. The second track, “Idiolect,” might, in fact, have been the better pick for an opener, given the heat its uptempo swing generates; adding to that, Grdina's lightning-fast runs ooze an almost McLaughlin-like fire.

Following an unaccompanied intro by the leader, the title track blossoms into a prototypically hypnotic Middle Eastern-styled vamp that Roberts extemporizes over to spellbinding effect, whereas a feel of a decidedly different kind seeps into “Boubacar,” an infectiously swinging tribute to Malian guitarist Boubacar Traore written by the leader fourteen years ago. Interspersed among the seven performances are two percussion-free pieces, “Bordeaux Bender” and “Full Circle,” that afford the listener a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the conversational interplay between the strings.

October 2018