GRÜVORIA Introduces Dirty Fuel

Grüvoria's Blair Purdy Photo by Roger Humbert

Grüvoria's music will hit you like Coltrane, or Miles Davis, then pull you into a swing, then cascade you into acid jazz, then have you in every direction at the same time with sounds and rhythms twisting and turning in a wild frenzy. That's exactly what I heard when I entered the Lula Lounge mid performance of the song "Human Bites" composed by Don Golnick from his CD Hearts And Minds. This of course was Blair Purdy's arrangement of the piece which he enjoys playing especially the changes on the B section. Blair is director, composer and lead guitarist for Gruvoria, and has been leading this band for ten years and still going strong. Purdy and Ashot Grigorian are the remaining original members. Transfixed by this groove I'm watching Bryant Didier on bass, pelting out the bottom end with vigorous speed as a hard driving collage of sounds all blend together still dashing off into counter melodies. Then the tune bends back into a brass centered swing and Marcus Ali takes it out with a smooth sax solo.          Listen to cut from "Gasoline" Grüvoria - Photo by Roger Humbert The next song I experienced was "Lydias", named after a (creepy) child and equally named for its use of the Lydian scale which involves raising the 4th note of the scale by a semi tone. The creepy child inspired this eery sounding song which opens with some percussion and Marcus on bass clarinet releasing a dissonant melody, then joined by sax, bass, keys and lead guitar and they all repeat the weird melody in parts and rounds. The sounds rise into a crescendo of musical madness. At one point I'm feeling a little Pat Matheny vibe in there. This particular song originally called "Lydia" on the first album, and now "Lydia's" with an alternate arrangement, you can expect on every Gruvoria album. Blair Purdy was already on his musical path at age eight when he first started piano, then took up trumpet and guitar in his teens. Blair composes all the music for the band and values having experience with several instruments in order to communicate his ideas effectively with the band members. After hearing the tune and recording parts of it, he charts it right away and then takes it to the band, as opposed to the entire band collaborating with the writing. The positive side of this says Blair, is that the piece stays true to it's genuine form. The more people in the mix, he feels the further it moves from the original creation. There is of course plenty of room for the other players personal input as with harmonies on the keys and with each players time to solos. An enjoyable favourite of mine is "Gasoline", which has a 'phat' funky tight tempo then drives into a more upbeat main rhythm  (Listen to "Gasoline"). There's cascading harmonic horns, then it eases back into a 'nasty funk' and the vocals slide in with "Gasoline". This is Blair's opportunity to use his vocals. He is particularly proud of how well this piece is orchestrated. It is of course an extension of the Dirty Fuel theme with the gas crisis being at the forefront of the worlds conflicts, this is a most timely and appropriate musical interpretation. Well that was a sweet enough tease of the Grüvoria groove to want the CD. Dirty Fuel composed, and produced by Blair Purdy can be purchase at  www.gruvoria.com  You can also see Grüvoria live at the SuperMarket in Kensington on May 8. Contributing to the CD are Marcus Ali - Saxophone, Milos Angelov - Electric Bass, Ruben Esguerra - Percussion, Ashot Grigorian - Saxophone, Vladimir Mladenovic - Drums, Blair Purdy - Guitar, Gordon Webster - Keys. Live performances include Eric Boucher on keys and Bryant Didier on bass. Experience Grüvoria live ! Get the CD ! You'll dig what they do. Eryn Vogn