cordis (band)

Richard Grimes, Andrew Beall, and Jeremy Harman formed the contemporary ensemble, CORDIS, in Boston, MA in 2008.[1] The group was created as a performance vehicle for Grimes' compositions.[2] The ensemble's first album, Here On Out, recorded at Q Division Studios in Boston, MA later that year, was produced by Tom Durack and Grimes and released on Landspeed Records. The ensemble's debut was hailed as both a critical and commercial success. By 2010 the group evolved into a path that found them exploring more experimental timbres, with Grimes shifting his role in the ensemble solely on acoustic and electric cimbalom.[3]

CORDIS' second album, Seams, released in September, 2016, was met with very strong commercial and critical reaction - thrusting them into a position of fan demand and anticipation. The album, produced by Sam Kassirer and Grimes, embraced a broad range of timbre and instrumentation. Grimes described his writing on the album as "a contest of patience versus efficiency."[4]

In fall 2020, CORDIS premiered Condition Blue, the first in a three-part performance series which incorporated elemental environments with sound. Condition Blue: The Acoustics of Aquatics offered an evocative journey into Earth's diverse water habitats, where life thrives in the most extraordinary conditions. The show featured CORDIS performing on traditional and non-traditional water-based instrumentation. CORDIS delivered its final performance of Condition Blue at West Virginia University in March 2023.

CORDIS announced their next live venture will feature "an artful infusion of sight and sound" - suggesting Grimes plans to explore the possibilities of sound through "found instrumentation" such as "timpani with typewriters, propellers with pianos, and chains with cellos."[5]