The Marrow rides jazz’s globe-spanning sounds
> BY ALEXANDER VARTY
Two of the players in Gordon Grdina’s new group, the Marrow, are genuine avantjazz stars, one is well on his way there, and the other? Well, he’s just a little harder to place.
Bassist Mark Helias and cellist Hank Roberts are the known quantities. Helias, last seen here closing the Vancouver International Jazz Festival with the Bassdrumbone trio, has recorded with everyone from adventurous saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton to the late blues philosopher Mose Allison. Roberts is a less frequent visitor to Western Canada but made his debut here in the 1980s as part of Bill Frisell’s groundbreaking quartet and still plays often with the masterful guitarist. Bandleader Grdina, a Burnaby native, is becoming internationally recognized for his work on both oud and guitar, although for his upcoming shows he’ll stick to the former.
And percussionist Hamin Honari? He’s the relatively unknown quantity that makes this new band work.
As Grdina relates on the line from his Strathcona home, the Marrow grew out of his long musical relationship with Helias. “He’s always been really encouraging about my oudplaying,” Grdina explains. “And then I was going to New York to play this oud summit that some of my friends were putting on, so I put together a band with Mark and Hank, and it just went really well. It was a magical evening, so we were all like, ‘Let’s do this more!’”
At first, the three considered joining forces with veteran jazz drummer Jerry Granelli, an American now living in Halifax. But for both musical and logistical reasons, it soon became clear that Honari was the better choice. “It opens up more space,” says Grdina, noting that Honari plays a variety of Middle Eastern, Persian, and North Indian hand drums. “We can play acoustically, so dynamically we can be in a different spot—which I like being in with those guys. And then also I wanted to have that be connected to Persian history, sonically.
“A lot of things are like nods and tips to Arabic and Persian music,” he adds. “But it’s also kind of connecting to the other writing I’ve been doing with other projects, where it’s more contrapuntal, and stretching tonality a little bit more—which I’ve been really moving more towards on the oud lately. In the last few years it’s starting to feel like the oud-playing and the guitar-playing are turning into the same thing.”
To get a sense of how Grdina’s oud is beginning to depart from Middle Eastern and Persian modes, check out the Fox Cabaret double bill that the Marrow and Qalandar are playing next week. Grdina and Honari play in both bands, but with Qalandar, the focus is on contemporary Persian music, often with lyrics by the great Sufi poet Rumi. The Marrow, in contrast, can be roughly characterized as jazz—but only if it’s acknowledged that jazz is experiencing another great phase of renewal and growth.
“I feel like it’s a golden era right now,” Grdina agrees. “It feels like it’s really branching out.…indian music, Iraqi music, Arabic stuff, Persian music: they’re all giving jazz another viewpoint on improvising.”
And is there a political dimension to the Marrow’s take on this new, global approach?
“I’m not doing this purposefully; it’s just a natural thing I’m into,” Grdina says. “But part of it is also saying ‘Wake up! Listen to this shit! It’s fucking amazing!’ I mean, how can you think people are that much different from you when they make music this beautiful?”