Gordon Grdina

Solo works, written by one particular composer for another is the genesis of this CD. During Covid lockdowns, Brooklyn’s Tim Berne began sending a few of his idiosyncratic compositions to Vancouver’s Gordon Grdina. As soon as one of the guitarist’s interpretation was recorded and e-mailed, Berne dispatched another. This back-and-forth continued for a year until enough music was collected for this album.

A polymath soloist, Grdina’s Berne variations are played on acoustic and classical guitars, oud and dobro as well as a MIDI guitar that is simultaneously electric and acoustic. This versatility is probably why the American wrote the pieces for the Canadian in the first place. As an added bonus the MIDI interface often allows the string player to invest some tracks with two tandem sounds, one low-pitched and the other higher as he does on “Lost In Redding”. However with his confident pitch bending and decorated frails Grdina avoids any hints of gimmickry. Instead the additional sounds strengthen the interpretation, especially when he piles harsh notes and woody thumps on top of one another for the staccato ending.

Other times as on “I Don’t Use Hair Products” the guitarist’s playing is warm and subdued, slowly and methodically examining and resonating each perfectly formed tone and pattern. Or, on the extended “Enord Krad”, while strident electrified incursions challenge Maghreb-oriented echoing drones, a polished theme is still regularly communicated.

Musical history includes instances where soloists provided masterful translations of a composer’s work. Perhaps not Oddly Enough, this set can be included in that distinguished list.

–Ken Waxman

–for MusicWorks Fall 2022