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Gordon Hyland

As a young boy, Gordon Hyland loved cars and computers, and wanted to be an aerospace engineer when he grew up. That dream was pushed aside, however, in his mid teens as he found himself irresistibly drawn into the world of music after discovering his grandfather’s record collection - and the siren songs of Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Duke Ellington, Count Basie - as well as winning an unexpected opportunity to go on a junior high band trip to Japan. Since then, with his trusty tenor saxophone in hand, Hyland pursued the music life diligently, ultimately obtaining both a Bachelors in Fine Arts and in Music (Concordia and University of Toronto), as well as a Masters in Jazz Performance (U of T) with a focus on saxophone and electronics. His education has also included an extended 10- week intensive in New York City to study privately with Mark Turner, Donny McCaslin, Bill McHenry, Chris Cheek, Seamus Blake, and Ohad Talmour, and several residencies at the renowned Banff Centre. Far from being a jazz purist, Hyland has gone out of his way to forge a unique career path for himself, developing a sound and style wholly his own from years of working with live electro-prog band Ninja Funk Orchestra, from which he gained a reputation for his innovative use of effects pedals with a tenor saxophone as well as for his multidisciplinary collaborative approach to staging the band, complete with costumes, lighting, and projections.

His career has taken him across North America, Europe, and Japan. His compositions and sound designs have been heard in award-winning films (Picture Day, O Negative), and theatre productions (Randolph Academy, Rogue Theatre, Baro Theatre, Red One Theatre, Candles Are For Burning). A highly seasoned music educator, he has taught at Trinity College School, and privately mentored next- generation jazz musicians who have gone on to pursue degrees in the field. Hyland has made it his objective to connect the dots between theory, performance, creativity and technology.

Hyland gigs around his hometown of Toronto as a freelancer and as a regular with Dwayne Gretzky, Ronley Teper & The Lipliners, Vivienne Wilder & The Vice Presidents, Blunt Object, and the Mack Longpre Quartet. Rejoining with members of Ninja Funk Orchestra, Hyland now leads his own project, \\livingfossil//, a conceptual post-bop ensemble that performs compositions and arrangements by Hyland. The first \\livingfossil// album, ‘NEVER DIE!’ was recorded in early 2017 at Canterbury Studios with co-producer and guest saxophonist Mike Murley (Metalwood).

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Album Review

Gordon Hyland: NEVER DIE! by \\livingfossil//

Read "NEVER DIE! by \\livingfossil//" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


\\livingfossil// is the most recent brainchild of Canadian saxophonist Gordon Hyland. The Toronto-based musician and composer continues to release his versatile compositions in a multitude of formations of various different names, such as the acoustic saxophone trio Simple Shapes or the progressive-electronic project Ninja Funk Orchestra. Members of the latter are reunited with Hyland on his newest endeavor \\livingfossil//, making for an intriguing instrumentation of two saxophones, two electric guitars, drums and an electric as well as acoustic bass. The ...

2
Album Review

Gordon Hyland: NEVER DIE! by \\livingfossil//

Read "NEVER DIE! by \\livingfossil//" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


The debut disc Never Die, by the Toronto-based collective, \\living fossil//, opens with a reverberant industrial hum, a droning metallic guitar sound that announces a distinctive and compelling group aesthetic. Saxophonist Gordon Hyland is the ringleader, though that isn't not apparent from listening. He and his cohorts have created a distinctive approach of echoing saxophone--sometimes two saxophones, with tenor man Mike Murley joining in on three tunes--and wall-of-sound guitar approach that makes for a satisfyingly cohesive listening experience.

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"3-D music at its finest, saxophone as you’ve never heard it before, fucking electrifying jazz. Right from the opening swells of sound my synesthesia flared uncontrollably and shit got visceral. I was underwater in navy, indigo, real deep down. I was a spectator at a boxing match at the bottom of the ocean. I was inside Gord’s heart watching, like in a magic mirror, images of all the people and ideas that make it beat." - Joelle Westman, The Salty Lacuna.

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

NEVER DIE! by...

Independent
2018

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\\livingfossil//

From: NEVER DIE! by \\livingfossil//
By Gordon Hyland

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