Gordian Knot was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band directed by

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

ist

Sean Malone Sean Malone (April 12, 1970 – December 7, 2020) was an American musician who played primarily fretless bass guitar and Chapman Stick. He was most famous for his work with progressive metal band Cynic, in which he developed a strong partners ...

. At times its shifting lineup included

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

and

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

Ron Jarzombek Ron Jarzombek is an American guitarist best known for his work with WatchTower, Spastic Ink, and Blotted Science, featuring Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse. His most recent project is Terrestrial Exiled. He released a brand new song, "Beyon ...

from

Watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

and

Spastic Ink Spastic Ink was a progressive metal band from the United States. History Spastic Ink was formed in 1993 by guitarist Ron Jarzombek of Watchtower after recovering from multiple hand surgeries that had sidelined him, unable to play, for a couple ...

, as well as

Jim Matheos Jim Matheos (born November 22, 1962) is an American guitarist and the primary songwriter for the progressive metal band Fates Warning, in which he has been the only consistent member since the group's beginning. Matheos also plays in OSI alongsi ...

Fates Warning Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman. There have been numerous lineup ...

, several of Malone's former bandmates from Cynic, and

John Myung John Ro Myung (; born January 24, 1967) is an American bassist and a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater. Background and personal life Born in Chicago to South Korean parents, Myung grew up with John Petrucci on King ...

from

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

. Sean Malone died on December 7, 2020.

Musical style

The music of Gordian Knot is a stylistic mixture of progressive rock and metal, instrumental music reminiscent of

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

's Guitar Craft and his solo work (e.g. compare Gordian Knot's song "Grace" with Robert Fripp's "Evening Star"). Notable is their use of counterpoint, often presenting several complex intertwining layers of melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic structures. The music of Gordian Knot also relies heavily on diatonic guitar melodies although sometimes encompassing later resolved dissonances to add a jazz fusion-like flavor. The interaction between the various instruments, all played by accomplished instrumentalists, allows for communication of various melodic lines, harmonies and rhythms among guitar(s), bass, and (concerning rhythms) even drums. Also, Gordian Knot cannot be categorized without disregarding certain aspects of their music. For example, the piece "Komm, süsser Tod, komm sel'ge" is a transcription of a piece of the same name by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, while some of their other pieces, most notably "Grace", have a distinct classical, even baroque Bach-like flavor, being constructed in an almost

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

-like fashion by interweaving several independent diatonic melodic lines from the Chapman Stick. Other songs, such as "Muttersprache" (German for "mother tongue") or "Code/Anticode" work with on-beat/off-beat, interplay between two guitars and/or the rhythm and melody section, incorporating jazz chords and dissonant intervals to create tension and form the basis for a mixture of jazz fusion and progressive rock/metal.

Band members

Malone recruited a different line-up each time when he was recording and playing live with Gordian Knot.

Past members

- bass, fretless bass, sticks, guitars, keyboards, e-bow, echoplex, loops, occasional vocals

Studio members

*Sonia Lynn - vocals *

Paul Masvidal Paul Albert Masvidal (born January 20, 1971) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and a founding member of the progressive metal band Cynic (band), Cynic. He has remained a continual member in Cynic for nearly three dec ...

- guitar *Bob Brunin - guitars * Jason Göbel - guitars *Glenn Snelwar - guitars, mandolins *

- guitars *

Adam Levy Adam Levy is a jazz guitarist who was a member of Norah Jones's band. Career Levy was born in Encino, California. Two of his uncles and one cousin played guitar, and his mother briefly took lessons. His grandfather, George Wyle, worked for '' ...

- guitars *

- acoustic guitars *

Trey Gunn Trey Gunn (born December 13, 1960) is an American musician, known for his membership in the progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick. Biography A native Texan who now resides in Seattle, Washi ...

- warr guitar *

- chapman stick *

- drums *

Sean Reinert Sean Reinert (May 27, 1971 – January 24, 2020) was an American musician. He was the drummer for the rock band Æon Spoke and the drummer and founding member of the progressive metal band Cynic (band), Cynic until leaving the band in Septemb ...

- drums

Discography

*''

Gordian Knot The Gordian Knot is an Ancient Greek legend of Phrygian Gordium associated with Alexander the Great who is said to have cut the knot in 333 BC. It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem (untying an impossibly tangled knot) sol ...

'' (1999) *'' Emergent'' (2003)

References

https://www.loudersound.com/news/cynic-bass-player-sean-malone-dead-at-50

External links

Interview with Bill Bruford
* {{Authority control 1998 establishments in the United States 2020 disestablishments in the United States American progressive metal musical groups American progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 2020