Jazz Articles about Vijay Iyer

About Vijay Iyer

Extended Analysis

There are times when it's possible to chart an artist's success through his association with record labels. Vijay Iyer--who, over the past 20 years, has built a reputation for genre-defying, forward-reaching music--spent the early part of his career on independent US labels including the highly regarded Pi Recordings, Savoy Jazz and Sunnyside Records. But it was with his move to Germany's ACT Music label and a series of trio and solo recordings, including the Grammy-nominated Historicity (2009), that the pianist ...

Live Review

Vijay Iyer Solo at San Francisco Performances

by Harry S. Pariser
December 9, 2013

Vijay Iyer San Francisco Performances San Francisco, CA November 16, 2013 Polymath, pianist, arranger, composer, Grammy nominee, creative program director, a doctorate holder, the recipient of a 2013 MacArthur “genius" fellowship, the recipient of a groundbreaking “quintuple crown" in the 2012 Down Beat International Critics Poll, as well as a “quadruple crown" in the JazzTimes extended critics poll. Soon to be a Harvard Professor. Declared Pianist of the Year for both 2012 and 2013 by ...

Album Review

Vijay Iyer / Mike ladd: Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams Project

Read "Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams Project" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
October 31, 2013

It's been nearly 70 years since the film The Best Years Of Our Lives won seven Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture (1946). The story revolved around three returning WWII veterans and their difficulties adjusting to civilian life. While those veterans came back to the economic powerhouse that was the United States, today's returning soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars find a country with the same meager prospects that perhaps drove them to enlist in the first place. ...

Live Review

Jazz on a Summer's Day 2013

by Phillip Woolever
August 16, 2013

Jazz on a Summer's DayKrefeld, GermanyJuly 13, 2013 The setting was historic, on the grounds of a 12th century castle. The program tilted toward tomorrow, with an ear for the future. That picturesque, present day progression made the 29th Jazz on a Summer's Day a timeless musical present for devoted fans in this charming, well-represented burg of boppers. The site was a gift for the eyes, and well-aligned for featured performer Vijay Iyer ...

Album Review

Vijay Iyer Trio: Accelerando

Read "Accelerando" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
March 12, 2012

Stessa etichetta, stessa formazione, stessa miscela di composizioni originali, di standard jazz e di pop covers, stessa grande musica. Ci riferiamo al Vijay Iyer Trio che bissa lo splendido Historicity con l'altrettanto splendido Accelerando. Partiamo da “Human Nature," per chi scrive la vetta dell'album. Difficile per tutti confrontarsi con le versioni in studio e soprattutto live che Miles Davis ci regalò negli anni ottanta ma Iyer ha dalla sua un immenso talento, idee a volontà e la capacità di trasformare ...

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Album Review

Vijay Iyer Trio: Accelerando

Read "Accelerando" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
March 8, 2012

On the surface, Accelerando follows the same basic format as Historicity (ACT Music, 2009), the debut of pianist Vijay Iyer's working trio with bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Though once again divided between Iyer's complex originals and some surprising covers, this eclectic sophomore session attains an even greater sense of cohesion than its predecessor, courtesy of a common aesthetic denominator. As Iyer states in the liner notes “This album is in the lineage of American creative music based ...

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Live Review

Vijay Iyer Trio: Washington, DC, April 30, 2011

by Franz A. Matzner
May 18, 2011

Vijay Iyer TrioSixth & I Historic SynagogueWashington, DCApril 30, 2011 Sponsored by the Washington Performing Arts Society, pianist Vijay Iyer's concert placed his innovative trio in the sumptuous setting of Washington, DC's Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. The domed ceilings and intricate décor provided an appropriate backdrop to Iyer's powerfully evocative, enormously creative musical explorations, the serenity and seriousness of the space reflecting the complexity and spiritual clarity of Iyer's music ...