Gordon Grdina/Mat Maneri/Christian Lillinger Trio

Gordon Grdina, guitar, oud; Mat Maneri, violin, Christian Lillinger, drums
(Canada, USA, Germany)

With his trio, Canadian musician Gordon Grdina (the son of Slovenian emigrants) brings together two continents and three prominent jazz hubs, connecting his native Vancouver with New York and Berlin. The unusual instrumentation features oud, an instrument that Grdina has played for various years, incorporating Arabic music into his broad sound universe that includes everything from alternative rock to avant-garde. The trio includes renowned American violist Mat Maneri (has worked with Matthew Shipp and Cecil Taylor) and the celebrated German drummer and percussionist Christian Lillinger (Punkt.Vrt.Plastik, Open Form for Society, etc.). The trio’s music is a densely woven impression of intense and airy, but also vigorous sounds fitted together seamlessly like interlocking pieces in a jigsaw puzzle; in a burst of inspiration, the trio then disassemble the picture and piece it together again into a new sound tableau.