Album Notes

Gordon Grdina, guitar; Francois Houle, clarinets; Karlis Silins,
bass; Kenton Loewen, drums. Box Cutter cuts through stylistic boundaries. The
players weave in and out of free-form improvisations, grooves, and lyrical
melodic statements with equal enjoyment. The band leaves no stone unturned,
making use of every possibility that presents itself. This is a band that
loves to improvise. It will make music out of anything: the sound of wind, a
chime, a feel, a phrase, a tune... Box Cutter feels equally at home making
music out of pure sound and texture as making a soulful melody sing.

Biography
Gordon Grdina is a Vancouver based Oud/Guitarist whose sound is a combination of his interests in mainstream jazz, free-form improvisation and Arabic classical music. A protégé of jazz great Gary Peacock, he is a well-respected contributor to the jazz and world music scenes constantly being sought out for projects that need a fresh sound.

On Guitar Gordon leads the Vancouver groove trio Loose Acoustic www.looseacoustic.com which has recorded two critically acclaimed CD’s with Skrank Records. They are currently managed by Turner Music and Events and are mixing their next Cd release with Maximum Jazz. In 2003 the Grdina Trio was released on Plunge records www.plungerecords.com a chamber/free-jazz group that has since developed into Box Cutter a genre bending modern Jazz quartet featuring Francois Houle. Spool is releasing their debut cd unlearn in October 2006

East Van Strings is a guitar/oud, violin, viola and cello quartet that is inspired by Bartok, Berg and Arabic Taqasim. The other members of the ensemble are Jesse Zubot, Peggy Lee, and Eyvind Kang. They are currently preparing for their debut CD In August 2006 Songlines released “think like the waves” Wwith Gary Peacock bass and Paul Motian drums and Gordon Grdina performing on Guitar & Oud. There are 14 of Gordon's original compositionss that combine his varied influences.

He plays the Oud in the Arabic/Persian/Indian ensemble Sangha, www.sanghamusic.com . They are currently supporting their debut Cd “Omid.” Last year Maqam an oud, violin, bass, and percussion ensemble that explores Iraqi folk melodies from a contemporary improvisational perspective was formed. They are performing locally in preparation for their CD.

Quotes

…Gordon brings to any project stylistic variation, a sense of spontaneous improvisation, and a joyful enthusiasm. Already a multifaceted musician, I find his playing to be of an exploratory nature and his ideas very musical. I feel that he is now at the beginning of a successful career…Gary Peacock

…nice sounds, nice tunes, nice playing… Brad Shepik

…harnesses progressive energy in ways that most cannot… Roman Sokal (Exclaim)

...covers a whole lot of ground in celebrating the timeless virtues of subtle, intuitive interplay and celebrates the eternal joy of conclusively making its point without raising its collective voice...Nic Jones(All About JAzz)

...This album is the product of his musical conception, a combination of mainstream jazz, free-form improvisation and Arabic classical music. The resulting music is one of the most refreshing styles of jazz I've ever heard... John Matouk

…constantly reinventing himself and surprising his listeners with an ever-changing array of new sounds and concepts… Alexander Varty (Georgia Straight)

...Finds perfect communication with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian in 14 wildly creative tracks...Stuart Derdeyn The Province

...Grdina's guitar lines, clean of tone with hint of a Jim Hall-ish angularity, are very much at home...it's evident that some higher level communication is going on...Mark Saleski