(Vancouver)
GRDINA/HOULE/LOEWEN
GORDON GRDINA guitar FRANÇOIS HOULE clarinet
KENTON LOEWEN drums
GRDINA/HOULE/LOEWEN perform complex compositions that meld together density, ferocious energy and technical virtuosity. Collectively versatile, with finely honed wide dynamic range, this is an ensemble that can change course dramatically.
Juno award winner GORDON GRDINA is an accomplished guitarist and oud player who encompasses mainstream jazz, free-form improvisation, Arabic classical music, and is a long-standing member of Dan Mangan + Blacksmith. FRANÇOIS HOULE has released more than twenty recordings, earning multiple Juno award nominations, and is frequently listed as a “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition” and “Rising Star” in Downbeat’s Critics’ Poll. Dan Mangan + Blacksmith drummer KENTON LOEWEN has been a major presence on the improvised music scene in Vancouver for many years, having been a member of Mother Mother as well as collaborating with the finest luminaries of the international creative music scene.
Since 2014, the collective Grdina/ Houle/Loewen has been performing completely improvised concerts and different permutations of graphic scores. Recently, the group has forged a new stream of complex compositions, having spent some time at Afterlife Studios, recording two new CD projects, a set of quartet music with French pianist Benoît Delbecq, and an album of original compositions by Grdina and Houle, to be released by Songlines Records in the fall of 2016.
(Hamilton)
ESCHATON
AARON HUTCHINSON trumpet, synthesizer, electronics, percussion CONNOR BENNETT saxophone, bass, vocals
AARON HUTCHINSON and CONNOR BENNETT constitute this soulful Hamilton noise duo, which creates thick textural noise with vulnerable horn expressions, narrative soundscapes that breathe, bend and distort. They have released four cassettes, and a 2014 tour tape out on the HAVN label, and can also be heard on the long-awaited Perdu Hamilton release. Come and listen to ESCHATON as they offer a transformative future for Canadian music!
