VIJAY IYER — Solo (2010) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Vijay Iyer's first solo album is structured in three movements, not unlike a recital. It begins with four interpretations -- the pop song "Human Nature," which was introduced into jazz by Miles Davis in 1985; Thelonious Monk's "Epistrophy"; the standard "Darn That Dream"; and Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan Fantasy." These are followed by four interlocking Iyer compositions, which are in turn succeeded by the album's third movement, a stretch that includes a version of Steve Coleman's (Iyer's former boss and mentor) "Games," another Ellington track ("Fleurette Africaine") and one final original: "One for Blount," a dedication to Sun Ra. The opening version of "Human Nature" dips into Bruce Hornsby territory in its final 90 seconds or so, and tosses in a few unnecessary fills, but otherwise it's nice enough. Iyer tackles "Epistrophy" with high-speed, Jarrett-esque streams of notes rather than the obvious, Monk-ish lurching rhythm and melodic sparseness; the melody is present, but it's buried, you've got to know it's there in advance and listen for it. "Darn That Dream" is pretty but undistinguished, while Iyer's version of "Black and Tan Fantasy" struts and strides convincingly, making the listener wish he'd approached the Monk tune in a similar fashion. The four-song suite of original material that comprises the album's middle stretch showcases other facets of Iyer's playing, including a passable Cecil Taylor impression on the rumbling "Prelude: Heartpiece" and "Autoscopy." The latter piece shifts to Philip Glass-like repetitive figures in its second half. The odds and ends that close the disc out don't resolve anything, though "Games" has a melody Iyer clearly enjoys playing; they just provide structure to the album as a whole. He can clearly make a piano do just about anything he wants it to, and Solo is a project that puts the thought that went into its construction clearly visible, but it's never breathtaking in the way a truly great solo piano performance can be. Phil Freeman

"Solo" is the emphatic proof: one of the most exciting, groundbreaking and intelligent things currently sounding on the piano keys in jazz is associated with the name Vijay Iyer. ACT
Tracklist :
1    Human Nature 6:07
Composed By – John Bettis, Steve Porcaro
2    Epistrophy 4:56
Composed By – Kenny Clarke, Thelonious Monk
3    Darn That Dream 4:14
Composed By – Eddie Delange, Jimmy Van Heusen
4    Black & Tan Fantasy 4:50
Composed By – Bubber Miley, Edward K. "Duke" Ellington
5    Prelude: Heartpiece 2:06
Composed By – Vijay Iyer
6    Autoscopy 6:38
Composed By – Vijay Iyer
7    Patterns 8:29
Composed By – Vijay Iyer
8    Desiring 4:50
Composed By – Vijay Iyer
9    Games 3:37
Composed By – Steve Coleman
10    Fleurette Africaine 7:56
Composed By – Edward K. "Duke" Ellington
11    One For Blount 3:03
Composed By – Vijay Iyer
Credits :
Cover [Cover Art] – Anish Kapoor
Piano, Producer, Arranged By – Vijay Iyer

VIJAY IYER TRIO — Historicity (2009) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Vijay Iyer has captured the ears of critics and listeners like only a handful of the most elite jazz pianists since McCoy Tyner, Cecil Taylor, or Misha Mengelberg initially burst onto the scene. There's no other single player who sounds even remotely like him, few who can match his inventive and whimsical sense of play or seriousness, and absolutely nobody who presents the stunning, highly intelligent music he dishes out. With Historicity, he touches on many different levels of acumen, influenced by contemporary alternative rock, Motown, show tunes, pop fusion, the early creative music of the '70s, and ethnic strains. Iyer also revisits two of his older compositions, with the majority of this progressive jazz -- whether "covers" or originals -- done completely in his own scintillating style. Iyer's working/touring band of drummer Marcus Gilmore and bassist Stephan Crump is more than up to the task, with this well-rehearsed music retaining a spontaneous, liquid, chameleonic urgency that consistently staggers the imagination. Iyer's mind-blowing virtuosity on the title track/opener is loaded with mutated repeat phrases that tumble from his brilliant, busy hands. Clearly, he is not like all the others. His love for Andrew Hill is demonstrated during "Smoke Stack," a scattershot, inventive, tangential swinger, while Julius Hemphill's deeply bluesy and tribal "Dogon A.D." is perfectly interpreted in its thorny, craggy, unpredictable rhythmic base, as Crump's bowed bass and Gilmore's juggernaut funk stagger the mixed meters, very faithful to the original.

M.I.A. fans are treated to "Galang" in a hardbound big beat with summarily contrasting bright or dark piano lines, while Stevie Wonder's "Big Brother" sports a tom-tom-fed New Orleans syncopation contrasting Iyer's strident piano. The suggestive, introspective original "Helix" is different for the pianist in a diffuse setting, and he conversely incorporates a circle-the-wagons approach on the romantic Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim evergreen "Somewhere," juxtaposed against a bluesy swing, again atypical. Perhaps the most unusual choice is R&B fusioneer Ronnie Foster's "Mystic Brew," a straight funky version, not at all smooth, but way cool. The recapitulated tracks include "Trident: 2010" in a roiling, nearly boiled motion, while "Segment for Sentiment #2" is magnificently spiritual, again a twist for Iyer's more animated notions. Crump's bass playing and especially his soloing should be something to marvel at for anyone who appreciates finely crafted, artistic jazz musicianship, while Gilmore is amazing in his ability to keep up and push the more complex sounds. Vijay Iyer has mad skills, overwhelmingly and powerfully demonstrated on all of his recordings, but especially this one. He's also maturing at a rapid rate, while at the height of his powers on this incredible effort that sounds like much more than a mere piano-bass-drums mainstream jazz trio. This is an incredible CD, and a strong candidate for best jazz CD of 2009. Michael G. Nastos

... a spectacular redefinition of the classic piano trio. "Tense and consistently surprising." (ZEIT) ACT
Tracklist :
1    Historicity 7:48
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
2    Somewhere 6:57
Written-By – Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim
3    Galang [Trio Riot Version] 2:39
Written-By – Justine Frischmann, Maya Arulpragasam, Ross Orton, Steve Mackey
4    Helix 4:00
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
5    Smoke Stack 8:07
Written-By – Andrew Hill
6    Big Brother 4:48
Written-By – Stevie Wonder
7    Dogon A.D. 9:18
Written-By – Julius Hemphill
8    Mystic Brew [Trixation Version] 4:55
Written-By – Ronnie Foster
9    Trident: 2010 9:05
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
10    Segment For Sentiment #2 4:03
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
Credits :
Artwork [Coverart: Model for Memory, 2008] – Anish Kapoor
Bass – Stephan Crump
Drums – Marcus Gilmore
Piano, Arranged by – Vijay Iyer

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 WITH PRASANNA & NITIN MITTA — Tirtha (2011) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The Indian album of the American jazz pianist of the year 2010, Tirtha seemingly effortlessly combines musical tradition with contemporary jazz in an innovative trio format. ACT

Pianist and composer Vijay Iyer cut five albums in 2010 in various ensemble and solo settings. He was also was nominated for a Grammy for 2009's stellar Historicity. To kick off 2011, Iyer releases the much-anticipated Tirtha project; the debut recording of a new band that came together for the first time in 2007. Tirtha features Iyer on piano, virtuoso Nitin Mitta on tablas, and guitarist-composer Prasanna. Together they engage in a triangular dialogue between modern creative jazz, Hindustani (north-Indian classical) and Carnatic (south-Indian classical) music. What Tirtha's music is not, is mere jazz exotica or "fusion." What takes place along composed and improvised lines is a deep communication from the various places where these musics meet and diverge. The players engage one another through familiar and new harmonic ideas in spirited counterpoint, seamless dissonance, and complex lyric invention, all incorporated in a polyrhythmic language. Iyer and Mitta introduce "Duality" with a mysterious melodic statement before the pianist delves into a dense exploration of chordal harmonics that Prasanna answers minimally at first, then in an ever more detailed, complex fashion. Mitta's tablas are the constant: he bridges the dialogue on the changes in various tones and tempi, turning the entire work into an exercise in modal telepathy. "Tribal Wisdom," the album's longest piece, opens with a voice, tabla, and handclaps introducing what will most certainly become one of the most exciting explorations in polyrhythm, counterpoint, and elegance on the disc. "Abundance" is a more languid affair, with gorgeous changes and Iyer's piano holding court in a complex, midtempo ballad enhanced by Prasanna's silky comping. "Polytheism" employs rhythm as an anchor in a contrapuntal apreggiatic study that never loses its groove; the dialogue between piano and guitar is fluid and expansive. The set closes with the hauntingly beautiful "Entropy and Time," a gorgeous, quietly moving piece that displays Mitta's amazing gift of enhancing an already luxuriant lyricism with his complete mastery of the tonal possibilities of his instrument. Prasanna uses his guitar more like a sitar in creating an assertive melodic statement as Iyer responds to him ethereally in the middle register. Tirtha is a triumph; it is a high-water mark in hearing the constantly evolving discussion between jazz and Indian music.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Duality 5:59
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
2    Tribal Wisdom 11:06
Written-By – Prasanna
3    Tirtha 7:04
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
4    Abundance 7:46
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
5    Falsehood 6:38
Written-By – Prasanna
6    Gauntlet 2:10
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
7    Polytheism 5:43
Written-By – Prasanna
8    Remembrance 6:09
Written-By – Vijay Iyer
9    Entropy And Time 7:58
Written-By – Prasanna [Based On Composition By] – T.R. Subramanyam
Credits :
Cover [Untitled, 2004, fibreglass rubber and aluminium] – Anish Kapoor
Guitar, Voice – Prasanna
Performer, Producer – Tirtha
Piano – Vijay Iyer
Tabla – Nitin Mitta

VIJAY IYER | CRAIG TABORN — The Transitory Poems (2019) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Despite distinctive individual approaches to composition and improvisation, jazz pianists Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn are kindred spirits. They are celebrated as innovators and stylists, are approximately the same age, and most importantly, share an important foundational experience playing in Roscoe Mitchell's Note Factory together in the early years of the century, recording the album Song for My Sister.

Transitory Poems documents a 2018 live concert at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. In his brief liner notes, Iyer states that they documented their performance in the aftermath of a 12-month period that saw the passing of pianists Cecil Taylor, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Geri Allen, and the cosmological abstract expressionist painter and sculptor Jack Whitten, whose work was deeply influenced by John Coltrane. The title of the album comes from an interview quote by Taylor. Opener "Life Line (Seven Tensions)" is a 13-minute exercise in flow that reveals without doubt that the two men are not merely "jamming," but spontaneously composing together. In varying shades of light and dark they interact with adroit single lines and contrapuntal chord voicings as they engage in everything from modern classical music to speculative moments of inquiring repose and angular boogie-woogie. "Sensorium," dedicated to Whitten, is a short, four-minute work that layers fleet counterpoint in abstraction in a manner that evokes the ghost trace of the artist whose signature method was the immediate yet systemic way he layered acrylic paint. "Kairos" downshifts, examining the sparsity of sound as it intersects with silence, with insertions of precise melodic interpolation that eventually claim the fore as tight rhythmic chords entwine in a dance that unfurls in narrative space. "S.H.A.R.D.S." begins similarly, but gradually engages jazz motivics and sharp rhythmic statements to unfurl in a whirlwind of four-handed playing alongside a bluesy Motorik pulse. The final three works are all dedications. "Clear Monolith" for Abrams is nearly 11 minutes and commences with sparse staccato statements in lower and upper registers simultaneously with minimal, bell-like responses on single keys. In the middle section, animated movement asserts chorded tonal inquiry balanced by crystalline space. "Luminous Brew" is dedicated to Taylor and emerges as if it has always been there. The deep register of the bass keys rumble ominously as open modal chords add dimensionality to their voice. Flitting moments of ragtime and Ellingtonia and are woven into the forceful yet elegant unfolding as chromatics and expanded harmonics create a mysterious homage. Closer "Meshwork/Libation/When Kabuya Dances," dedicated to Allen, asserts itself with articulate force and contrapuntal energy as stacked arpeggios meet precise bass notes and chords before erecting a galloping call and response that slowly evaporates as it introduces Allen's shimmering, tender, playful "When Kabuya Dances." Transitory Poems is a wonderful recording. The energy, ideas, and instinctive musicality of Iyer and Taborn is full of surprises, canny camaraderie, deft techniques, understatement, and symbiotic difference; they combine to add immeasurably to the all-too-slim catalog of duo albums in the jazz piano tradition.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Life Line (Seven Tensions) 13:02
Composed By – Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer
2    Sensorium 4:17
Composed By – Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer
3    Kairòs 8:56
Composed By – Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer
4    S.H.A.R.D.S. 9:11
Composed By – Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer
5    Shake Down 6:40
Composed By – Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer
6    Clear Monolith 10:46
Composed By – Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer
7    Luminous Brew 8:17
Composed By – Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer
Meshwork / Libation / When Kabuya Dances    (12:48)
8.1    Meshwork
Composed By – Vijay Iyer, Craig Taborn
8.2    Libation
Composed By – Vijay Iyer, Craig Taborn
8.3    When Kabuya Dances
Composed By – Geri Allen
Credits :
Piano – Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer
Producer [Produced By] – Manfred Eicher

VIJAY IYER - Mutations (2014) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Mutations is not only Vijay Iyer's debut album for ECM, but also the first recording he's issued since winning a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant in the fall of 2013. As a recording, it is certainly among his most provocative. There are no traces of his Hindustani or Carnatic jazz explorations, his athletic post-bop or modal works, or even his explosive readings of modern pop. This is a showcase for Iyer the composer. Even the set opener, a solo piano reading of "Spellbound and Sacrosanct, Cowrie Shells and the Shimmering Sea," which appeared on Memorophilia--his 1995 debut--showcases its harmonic subtleties and formal construction over improvisation -- though it's certainly there. The album's title is actually a ten-part suite for piano, string quartet, and electronics originally composed and premiered in 2005; it has been evolving ever since. The srting quartet was specially assembled for this date. Iyer played violin for 15 years before devoting himself to the piano. He has not only played in string quartets, but has written for them and performed with them -- and larger classical ensembles -- as well. Mutations is an incremental piece based on his perception of "...evolution as a dynamic, noisy interaction between a species and innumerable, competing, fluctuating environmental factors...." Each of these sections undergoes a mutation, as notation-- with the interaction of the players--begin to shift and change with the introduction of an inconstancy or interruptive figure in a recurrent theme. Samples of the players are also introduced to alter themes and create altering textural and dynamic factors. The piano is one such element, and improvisation -- especially in "Mutations VII: Kernel" -- is another. The notation was simply handed out to be freely played with by the strings as they saw fit. Despite the possibility for chaos and obstructive dissonance, Mutations is aesthetically beautiful. throughout, articulated fragments and melodies interact in rhythmic and open frames, counterpoint, and harmony, even as they converse, gradually exchanging one flow of thought for another. In "Mutation III: Canon" the ghosts of Beethoven, Bartók, Stravinsky, Carter, Strayhorn, and Evans visit, though fluid spontaneity reigns overall. As the individual movements evolve, so does the overall structure of the work, arriving at "Mutations X: Time," the elastic of all philosophical and scientific constructs as the slippery undercurrent of rhythms suggest. "Vuln, Pt. 2" and "When We're Gone" are recent works for piano and electronics. The primary instrument engages in counterpoint and exchange with synthetic textures and rhythms. They stand out from the central work, but don't distract from its impact and feel more like extensions of it. Along with tis keen compositional attributes, Mutations rewards with well-considered, inspired performances. Whether fans of Iyer's jazz work will follow him here remains to be seen. That said, whether or not they do doesn't diminish the artist's considerable achievement.
>This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<
Tracklist :
1    Spellbound and Sacrosanct, Cowrie Shells and the Shimmering Sea 7'33
(Vijay Iyer)
2    Vuln, Part 2 4'33
(Vijay Iyer)
3    Mutation I: Air 4'13
(Vijay Iyer)
4    Mutation II: Rise 2'43
(Vijay Iyer)
5    Mutation III: Canon 5'48
(Vijay Iyer)
6    Mutation IV: Chain 5'25
(Vijay Iyer)
7    Mutation V: Automata 6'31
(Vijay Iyer)
8    Mutation VI: Waves 3'00
(Vijay Iyer)
9    Mutation VII: Kernel 5'59
(Vijay Iyer)
10    Mutation VIII: Clade 1'34
(Vijay Iyer)
11    Mutation IX: Descent 5'16
(Vijay Iyer)
12    Mutation X: Time 3'58
(Vijay Iyer)
13    When We're Gone 3'27
(Vijay Iyer)
Credits :
Vijay Iyer - Piano, Electronics
Miranda Cuckson, Michi Wiancko - Violin
Kyle Armbrust - Viola
Kivie Cahn-Lipman - Violoncello

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

VIJAY IYER | WADADA LEO SMITH - A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 In his liner notes to A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke, pianist/electronicist Vijay Iyer writes that while working in trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet/Quintet between 2005 and 2010, the pair often became "a unit within a unit." Evidenced by Tabligh in 2008 and Golden Quintet's half of the 2009 double-disc Spiritual Dimensions, this album (marking the trumpeter's first appearance on ECM in more than two decades) underscores that assertion via distillation. It is one of essences. It reveals the intricacies of music-making according to principles of instinct as well as close listening. Iyer's opening "Passage" is a surprise. The pianist's gently investigatory chords and thematic harmonics offer the hallmarks of a chamber piece. Smith illuminates them with expressive songlike statements, though more insistent staccato speech occurs near the end as Iyer builds to an implied crescendo. The majority of the album is claimed by the title work, a seven-part suite inspired by the drawings of the late Indian artist Nasreen Mohamedi. Its various sections offer a complete portrait of how deep and wide this duo can go. "All Become Alive" offers Smith's bleating, sometimes fragmented high notes. Iyer offers quiet, gently pulsing electronic backdrops, a simple keyboard bassline, and eventually a piano solo that alternately moves along a line that weds jazz balladry and lieder to modal improvisation before the trumpeter reenters to combine and sum. "Labyrinths" is more abstract, choppy, and kinetic. It is a quick-thinking conversation that offers breathtaking exchanges, not only back and forth, but through the moment. At the album's heart is "A Divine Courage." Introduced by the subtlest of electronic bass/drone pulses, Smith doesn't enter for nearly a full minute, giving the impression he is coming from silence. When he does, it's with halting yet fully formed lyric statements. (One briefly quotes Miles Davis from "Saeta" on Sketches of Spain.) As the intensity of the bass pulse slowly increases, Smith responds with expanded lyricism, played straight from the heart. Eventually Iyer's piano enters to frame it with droning middle-register chords and single notes. "A Cold Fire" commences with the pianist rumbling in the low register, alternately cascading notes and chords. Smith balances force and nuance in his playing, adding flow to the immense energy in their interplay. "Notes on Water" closes the suite with a moody ballad that could stand alone from it. Iyer's Rhodes piano shines darkly underneath the carefully articulated blues and angular shapes in Smith's playing. The trumpeter's "Marian Anderson" bookends the album in a resonant assertion of tribute. Iyer's care in responding highlights sometimes quizzical elucidations in the melody, moving the tune toward the unknown. It is the perfect consummation for A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke. The instincts these players offer in these works display the duo's mutual desire for intimate communication and spiritual trust through the medium of sound. Their uncompromising movement toward them results in a shared musical mind that speaks in a distinctive, unique emotional language.
>This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<
Tracklist :
1    Passage 6'15
(Vijay Iyer)
2    All Becomes Alive 9'09
(Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith)
3    The Empty Mind Receives 4'55
(Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith)
4    Labyrinths 6'43
(Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith)
5    A Divine Courage 9'12
(Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith)
6    Uncut Emeralds 7'43
(Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith)
7    A Cold Fire 5'55
(Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith)
8    Notes On Water 7'58
(Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith)
9    Marian Anderson 8'23
(Wadada Leo Smith)
Credits :
Vijay Iyer - Piano, Fender Rhodes, Electronics
Wadada Leo Smith - Trumpet

VIJAY IYER SEXTET - Far from Over (2017) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Keyboardist-composer Vijay Iyer’s energized sequence of ECM releases has garnered copious international praise. Yet his fifth for the label since 2014 – Far From Over, featuring his dynamically commanding sextet – finds Iyer reaching a new peak, furthering an artistry that led The Guardian to call him “one of the world’s most inventive new-generation jazz pianists” and The New Yorker to describe him as “extravagantly gifted… brilliantly eclectic.” Far From Over features this sextet of virtuoso improvisers – with horn players Graham Haynes, Steve Lehman and Mark Shim alongside rhythm partners Stephan Crump and Tyshawn Sorey – leveraging a wealth of jazz history even as it pushes boldly forward. The music ranges from the thrillingly explosive (“Down to the Wire,” “Good on the Ground”) to the cathartically elegiac (“For Amiri Baraka,” “Threnody”), with melodic hooks, entrancing atmosphere, rhythmic muscle and an elemental spirit all part of the allure. “This group has a lot of fire in it, but also a lot of earth, because the tones are so deep, the timbres and textures,” Iyer says. “There’s also air and water – the music moves.” ecm
Tracklist :
1    Poles 7'49
(Vijay Iyer)
2    Far From Over 6'15
(Vijay Iyer)
3    Nope 5'41
(Vijay Iyer)
4    End Of The Tunnel 2'17
(Vijay Iyer)
5    Down To The Wire 7'43
(Vijay Iyer)
6    For Amiri Baraka 3'22
(Vijay Iyer)
7    Into Action 5'00
(Vijay Iyer)
8    Wake 4'46
(Vijay Iyer)
9    Good On The Ground 6'32
(Vijay Iyer)
10    Threnody 8'24
(Vijay Iyer)
Credits :
Vijay Iyer - Piano, Fender Rhodes
Stephan Crump - Double Bass
Tyshawn Sorey - Drums
Steve Lehman - Alto Saxophone
Mark Shim - Tenor Saxophone
Graham Haynes - Cornet, Flugelhorn, Electronics

ROSCOE MITCHELL AND THE NOTE FACTORY - Far Side (2010) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Recorded live in Burghausen, Germany in 2007, Far Side features journeyman avant-garde saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and his ensemble the Note Factory performing in a concert. Joining Mitchell here are trumpeter Corey Wilkes, pianists Craig Taborn and Vijay Iyer, bassists Jaribu Shahid and Harrison Bankhead, and drummers Tani Tabbal and Vincent Davis. Beginning with the epic three-part 30-minute suite "Far Side/Cards/Far Side," the concert is an atmospheric and cinematic mix of Mitchell's longstanding musical touchstones including free jazz, European classical music, and modern creative group improvisation. Tracks such as the fragmented and atonal "Quintet 2007 A for Eight" and the similarly inclined "Trio Four for Eight" have the feel of composed classical music while evincing a more freely improvised aesthetic. This is often achieved by juxtaposing bowed cello and bass parts against improvised piano and sections where each musician seems to interject a melodic idea into an overall harmonic theme. There are moments of layered percussion, expansive atonal soundscapes, and fiery and combative moments between Mitchell and Wilkes as well as windy, drawn-out passages that tilt upon silence. If you're a hardcore Mitchell aficionado and/or fan of ECM's cerebral jazz catalog, Far Side would be a stellar addition to your library. by Matt Collar  
Tracklist :
1    Far Side / Cards / Far Side    30:56
Roscoe Mitchell & the Note Factory
2    Quintet 2007 A For Eight    9:56
Roscoe Mitchell & the Note Factory
3    Trio Four For Eight    12:37
Roscoe Mitchell & the Note Factory
4    Ex Flover Five    12:24
Roscoe Mitchell & the Note Factory
Credits :
Double Bass – Jaribu Shahid
Double Bass, Cello – Harrison Bankhead
Drums – Tanni Tabbal, Vincent Davis
Piano – Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer
Saxophone [Saxophones], Flute [Flutes], Music By – Roscoe Mitchell
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Corey Wilkes