Jazz Articles about Vijay Iyer

About Vijay Iyer

Album Review

A confluence of ideas is encountered in the kinetic and unusual Tirtha, featuring three South Asian luminaries: the critically acclaimed jazz pianist Vijay Iyer; and his equally accomplished trio-mates, guitarist/composer Prasanna, and tablaist Nitin Mitta. Iyer formed the band in 2007 when asked to put together a concert celebrating 60 years of Indian independence. The title (also the band's name) has significance, as “tirtha" (pronounced THEER-tha), is the Sanskrit word for “ford" or “crossing," a shallow part of a body ...

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Album Review

Vijay Iyer: Solo

by Dan McClenaghan
October 17, 2010

Pianist Vijay Iyer may be one of the great ones; only time will tell. The pianist has risen to become a critics' darling, mostly on the basis of his quartet outings, including the much-lauded Reimagining (Savoy Jazz, 2005) and Tragicomic (Sunnyside Records, 2008). He's worked a trio magic, to, -with his piano/saxophone/drums Fieldwork group, on the high intensity Your Life Flashes (Pi Recordings, 20002), Simulated Progress (Pi Recordings, 2005), and Door (Pi Recordings, 2008).All of Iyer's recordings, pre-2009, ...

Album Review

Vijay Iyer: Solo

by AAJ Italy Staff
September 27, 2010

Il suo è un tocco pesante e deciso. Immagina gli 88 tasti del pianoforte come gli attrezzi di una palestra. Dopo i fasti dell'acclamato Historicity, Vijay Iyer doveva andare da solo. E per farlo non poteva che mettere a fuoco la sua forza, la sua dirompenza, il tocco cristallino e rotondo: doveva irrobustire le tessiture con elementi di percussività pianistica. Non solo: doveva volgere lo sguardo verso il genio sregolato di Theloniuos Monk, amplificandone le turbolenze e le “note" sbagliate ...

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Album Review

Vijay Iyer: Solo

by Bruce Lindsay
August 20, 2010

Vijay Iyer's trio album, Historicity (ACT, 2009), brought the pianist much critical acclaim and saw him awarded the 2010 Jazz Journalist Association Musician Of The Year. Solo finds Iyer on his own for the first time, on a collection that encompasses jazz standards, a contemporary pop classic and five of Iyer's own original compositions. It's a more thoughtful and reflective album than Historicity but, while it clearly demonstrates Iyer's technical ability on his chosen instrument, it is also a less ...

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Album Review

Vijay Iyer: Solo

by Lyn Horton
August 1, 2010

On the heels of being named Musician of the Year in June, 2010, by the Jazz Journalists Association, Vijay Iyer has released his first solo piano recording. Solo comes after the critical success of his trio's Historicity (ACT Music, 2009) and quartet's Tragicomic (Sunnyside, 2008). Iyer is a kind of Renaissance man, with a jaw-dropping biography on his website; it is a wonder how he can accomplish so much. But the much-ness in his life seems to ...

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Album Review

Vijay Iyer: Solo

by Chris May
July 31, 2010

Pianist Vijay Iyer's Historicity (ACT Music, 2009) was among the spellbinders of its year, a 10 track trio album, one half originals, one half covers. Solo makes a return visit to the same playground, its 11 tracks comprising five originals and six covers of tunes written by Duke Ellington ("Black & Tan Fantasy," “La Fleurette Africaine"), Thelonious Monk ("Epistrophy"), Jimmy Van Heusen ("Darn That Dream"), Steve Coleman ("Games") and Steve Porcaro/John Bettis ("Human Nature," for the singer Michael Jackson).

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Interview

Vijay Iyer: Into The Mainstream

by AAJ Staff
December 21, 2009

New York-based pianist and composer Vijay Iyer is a rhythmic explorer whose piano trio album Historicity (ACT, 2009) is a cohesive and vibrant record that carries its creator and his colleagues firmly into the mainstream of modern music. The album stems from, among other sources, a succession of striking piano trio influences such as Duke Ellington's trio recording with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, Money Jungle (Blue Note, 1962), the small group Blue Note recordings by Andrew Hill, and the ...