All About Jazz members are invited to enter the ACT Music "VijayIyer - Historicity" giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on December 23rd. Click here to enter the contest (Following VijayIyer at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.)...
There's no single answer to the question of what's happening in jazz right now, but "Historicity" by the kinetic trio led by pianist VijayIyer represents one reasonable place to start (THREE STARS out of four stars, ACT).
I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed by the lineup on the South Bank for the London Jazz Festival this year. Jazz to me (as you have probably gathered) is about a risk-taking, non-conformist approach; it is an ever-evolving art-form, not a heritage industry. But on the South Bank this year, voices are “smouldering”, [...]
Pianist VijayIyer's compositions are ferociously paced and fractured with a sense of urgency that informs each note he plays. Historicity's title track opens the record, grabbing the listener immediately with the pianist's unique touch, carrying through on other original compositions such as "Helix"--a ballad on the surface that explodes midway through with frenetic energy....
Just wanted to correct the record after my preview in last week's Time Out New York and note that VijayIyer's drummer last week was Justin Brown, who's been subbing for Marcus Gilmore on a regular basis and doing a great job. A player as rhythmically advanced as Iyer can't hire just any drummer and expect it to work. Then again, not every drummer can handle Iyer's geometric...
Really good piano trios are studies in balance, and with the release of his new album, “Historicity,” his first piano-trio record, VijayIyer gives us a new one.
... collection of music. So when the newest recording by the talented but relatively unknown pianist VijayIyer was being called ‘jazz record of the year’ – even before release – I was quite skeptical to say the least. … [ visit site to read more ] Related posts: Review: ivideosongs.com, The Website Every Budding Musician Needs To See! Announcing Launchpad, Music Making for the 21st Century...
A stellar jazz trio + a wide-ranging repertoire = a great record. Pianist VijayIyer is happy to stun you, to knock you into awe, to blow your mind. He brings technique, imagination, and wide perspective to his art. Historicity, the first recording wholly devoted to Iyer's trio with bassist Stephen Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore, is a jewel. This trio, along with alto saxophonist...
Pianist and composer VijayIyer has been getting much well deserved publicity for this new trio album, where he explores a wide range of compositions by various musicians and a few originals as well. He is joined on this album by Stephen Crump on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums. With everyone contributing structural information, the group acts much more as an organic unit than soloist...
... players from the group that recorded the splendid Tabligh (Cuneiform Records, 2008)--keyboardist {{VijayIyer = 7901}} and bassist {{John Lindberg = 8771}}--are back for Spiritual Dimensions, with drummers {{Pheeroan AkLaff = 3304}} and {{Don Moye = 9668}} beefing up the horn-and-rhythm-section vehicle...
Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet, Spiritual-Dimensions (Cuneiform). The exploratory trumpeter follows up last year's triumphal Tabligh with a reshuffled quartet and goes himself one better by adding an excursion into electronic territory. The first CD again has VijayIyer at the piano and synthesizer and John Lindberg on bass, but in place of drummer Shannon Jackson Smith uses two bulwarks...
Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet, Spiritual-Dimensions (Cuneiform). The exploratory trumpeter follows up last year's triumphal Tabligh with a reshuffled quartet and goes himself one better by adding an excursion into electronic territory. The first CD again has VijayIyer...
VijayIyer Trio cover M.I.A.'s "Galang " on their new album, Historicity . The multiculti club banger makes the transition to the conservatory with surprising, tensile grace. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]