VIJAY IYER TRIO — Accelerando (2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Surprising interpretations of both traditional jazz and dewy pop and funk pieces, plus pulsating original compositions: One of the "most important pianists of our time" (The New Yorker) returns with his award-winning trio. ACT

It's almost impossible not to consider Accelerando by pianist Vijay Iyer's working trio with bassist Stephen Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore a companion to 2009's excellent Historicity. Its obvious similarities are that it places a handful of originals alongside a host of cover versions. These come from well-known artists from the worlds of jazz, 21st century dance music, and R&B. But there are key differences, too: for starters, this trio has been together longer; nowhere does that matter more than it does in jazz. The intuitive interplay and collective mindset that this trio possesses are exponentially more mature than they were on Historicity, despite its sharpness and musical acumen. The willingness to take chances is greater, as is the ability to make those risks pay off. Take the reading of "Human Nature," a tune recorded by Michael Jackson for the iconic Thriller. The melody is irresistible and Iyer maintains its framework while he builds on it by syncopating, extrapolating, and coloring it so that it becomes rich with complexity and textures, all the while keeping its melodic integrity. The rhythmic pulse is doubled on the snare, hi-hat, and bass drum. Crump's bass accompanies rather than propels, so his bass is where the groove lies. Heatwave's "The Star of a Story" is likewise melodically intact, but its rhythmic basics are set on a groove that finds funk in waltz time. Iyer discovers subtleties and hidden harmonic corners in his middle register that are remarkable to anyone familiar with the tune. "Mmmhmm," by Flying Lotus and singing bassist Thundercat, is realized with bowed basslines by Crump that both accompany the melody and state it, sparse chordal suggestions by Iyer in the higher register, and a gradually increasing vamp by Gilmore (that sounds like a defective loop because of its intentional slippage), all of which enchant the listener enough to provide Iyer the opportunity to solo using knotty clusters of post-bop dissonance and lyricism. Herbie Nichols' "Wildflower" swings hard with its lean angular line accenting his use of the piano as both a palette of tonal colors and a rhythm instrument. Iyer's own tunes, such as the title track and "Lude," reveal an extensive, purposeful build on jazz history from Thelonious Monk (in the latter) to the future (in the former), where dynamic repetition and gradually complex harmonic multiplications result from simple beginnings. What's most remarkable about these tunes, and the others here, are how consciously danceable they are. The set closes with Duke Ellington's "The Village of the Virgins," from his and Alvin Ailey's jazz ballet entitled The River. The river is obviously the Mississippi; gospel, blues, early jazz, swing, and even 1940s R&B make their voices heard in a nearly processional strut. The trio's interplay takes the structure -- originally performed by a jazz orchestra -- and boils it down to its essences, leaving space for nuance, grace, and elegance. Accelerando is a triumph in creativity and expert musicianship, and further underscores Iyer's status as a genuine jazz innovator.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Bode 2:18
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
2    Optimism 7:23
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
3    The Star Of A Story 5:46
Written-By – Rodney Temperton
4    Human Nature [Trio Extension] 9:39
Written-By – John Bettis, Steve Porcaro
5    Wildflower 4:10
Written-By – Herbie Nichols
6    Mmmhmm 4:33
Written-By – Flying Lotus, Thundercat
7    Little Pocket Size Demons 7:14
Written-By – Henry Threadgill
8    Lude 4:54
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
9    Accelerando 2:51
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
10    Actions Speak 5:38
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
11    The Village Of The Virgins 5:17
Written-By – Duke Ellington
Credits:
Bass – Stephan Crump
Cover [Art - Mother As A Mountain] – Anish Kapoor
Drums – Marcus Gilmore
Piano, Producer – Vijay Iyer

VIJAY IYER TRIO - Break Stuff (2015) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Though Break Stuff is Vijay Iyer's third appearance on ECM in less than year, it is the debut offering from the longstanding trio on the label. The pianist and composer has been working with bassist Stephen Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore for more than a decade. They've issued two previous recordings together. Iyer usually works conceptually, and Break Stuff is no exception. In the press release he states that "a break in music is still music: a span of time in which to act." We hear this all the time in modern music, whether it be the sounds that emerge from composer Morton Feldman's extended silences, breakbeats by funky drummers or hip-hop samples of them, or instrumental breakdowns in heavy metal and bluegrass -- they follow a moment where everything previous seems to stop. The Iyer Trio illustrate their concept in a 71-minute program that works from a suite of the same title: three works named for birds were adapted from his multi-media collaboration with author Teju Cole on Open City (illustrating in performance the novel of the same name), three standards, and works that deliver directly on the premise, including the stellar "Hood," which was inspired by Detroit techno DJ Robert Hood. The head patterns are all single-note and chord pulses, fractioned by Gilmore's precise skittering beats, breaks, and martial fills, and accented, stretched, and fragmented again by Crump. Despite its staggered parts and shifting dynamics, it is quite organic. The reading of Thelonious Monk's "Work" commences straightforwardly, following head-solo-head formula, but moves toward the margins in both the pianist's and bassists's solos. The trio's interplay offers a very pointillistic illustration of the composer's coloristic and rhythmic invention. John Coltrane's "Countdown" is taken further afield. While it retains the composer's sense of energy and flow, the pianist breaks down and reassembles its melody and sections with funky snare drops, stop-and-start legato runs, and an exceptionally syncopated bassline. The tune remains utterly recognizable despite their liberties. While opener "Starlings" is the most consciously lyric of the bird pieces, and the band begins to open up into a decidedly internal sense of swing, "Geese," with its arco basslines, intermittently placed choirs, and brushed snares is almost wholly abstract until its lyric side comes into view little more than half-way through. Billy Strayhorn's "Blood Count" is performed as a piano solo and played with a lyricism, spaciousness, and taste that would make the composer smile. The title track opens briskly with fleet statements, yet gradually reveals an inherent lyricism via Crump's solo. Break Stuff is modern jazz on the bleeding edge, a music that not only asks musical questions but answers them, and it does so accessibly and immediately, no matter the form or concept it chooses to express. This trio aims at an interior center, finds it, and pushes out, projecting Iyer & Co.'s discoveries.
>This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<
Tracklist :
1    Starlings 3'52
(Vijay Iyer)
2    Chorale 4'35
(Vijay Iyer)
3    Diptych 6'47
(Vijay Iyer)
4    Hood 6'10
(Vijay Iyer)
5    Work 6'14
(Thelonious Monk)
6    Taking Flight 7'15
(Vijay Iyer)
7    Blood Count 4'34
(Billy Strayhorn)
8    Break Stuff 5'26
(Vijay Iyer)
9    Mystery Woman 6'21
(Vijay Iyer)
10    Geese 6'38
(Vijay Iyer)
11    Countdown 5'57
(John Coltrane)
12    Wrens 6'47
(Vijay Iyer)
Credits :
Vijay Iyer - Piano
Stephan Crump - Double Bass
Marcus Gilmore - Drums