Album: Historicity
Galang
Vijay Iyer is a pretty cool cat. Undergraduate degree in mathematics and physics from Yale. Ph.D. in physics from UCal Berkeley. Classically trained violinist. Self-taught jazz pianist. Currently on the faculty at New York University and the School for Improvisational Music. Not bad.
His Trio is a crisp little ensemble: piano, double bass, and drums. Iyer favors clarity whenever possible, even in his original and extremely complex compositions. As here, his arrangements often sound quite contemporary due to the heaviness of the bass and the clean melodic lines.
I recently watched a documentary in which Iyer referred to jazz as "spontaneous architecture," which, apart from being an abso-fricken-awesome metaphor, may also be the best definition of the genre I've heard. Historicity itself features songs chosen for their "disruptive influence." In this case, M.I.A.'s crossover hit, "Galang."
Not much more to say. It's light. It's fresh. No bitter aftertaste. Yum.
Dammit man, you keep making me want to get back into piano. But they're so expensive. Yet, the possibilities are endless..
ReplyDeleteAlso, just an fyi, this has got to be your worst pun-title yet. ^^
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