1. art and entertainment
2. music
3. musical instruments
4. drums

Reprints
This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. You can order presentation-ready copies for distribution
to your colleagues, clients or customers here or use the "Reprints" tool that appears next to any article. Visit
www.nytreprints.com for samples and additional information. Order a reprint of this article now.
March 14, 2012
A Pianist’s Escalating Insurgency
By NATE CHINEN
Jazz has always been an adaptive art, possessed of certain essentials but receptive to variation at
every turn. The pianist-composer-bandleader Vijay Iyer knows this as well as anyone. He has made
a serious study of it, in theory as well as practice, and his last decade or so of music making can
partly be understood as a pertinent provocation.
“Accelerando,” his fourth release on the German label ACT, and an early front-runner for jazz
album of the year, encapsulates his knack for making prickly experimentalism feel approachable,
intuitive, even stylish.
It’s a sleek refinement of concepts that Mr. Iyer has been rigorously testing throughout his career,
but the album’s effect is abrupt and urgent. And because it makes a point of connecting with the
jazz tradition, it seems all the more likely to exert an influence there, sneaking up on an
establishment trained to guard against less amicable incursions.
Mr. Iyer, 40, has already earned a prominence beyond the typical reach of the avant-garde, partly
by engaging seriously with aspects of a larger culture. He has collaborated on three politically
minded multimedia pieces with the poet Mike Ladd; he has recorded songs with titles like “Habeas
Corpus” and “Macaca Please.” His recent albums feature cover images of works by the artist Anish
Kapoor. More important, he has cultivated a strong signature with ensembles like Fieldwork, a
cerebral but combustible collective, and his quartet, featuring the alto saxophonist Rudresh
Mahanthappa.
“Accelerando” features his superb trio with the nimble but grounded bassist Stephan Crump and
the magically propulsive drummer Marcus Gilmore.
The same personnel appeared on “Historicity,” one of the most acclaimed jazz albums of 2009, and
a precursor in other ways, including its ratio of original music to shrewdly chosen covers. Both
albums flutter with shifting polyrhythm, and both take an incantatory approach to melody. Both
feature dynamic tributes to Mr. Iyer’s jazz heroes, like the saxophonist-composers Henry
Threadgill and Julius Hemphill.
And both albums hinge on Mr. Iyer’s emphatic but flowing pianism, which borrows aspects of
touch and temperament from Andrew Hill, Thelonious Monk and Randy Weston, among others.
(His special advocacy of Mr. Hill is reminiscent of two of his peers: Jason Moran, whose
touchstone is Jaki Byard, and Ethan Iverson, who swears by Paul Bley.) What gives “Accelerando”
the edge is partly the execution — it’s less of a surprise than Mr. Iyer’s previous trio album but
sharper and surer — and partly its thematic clarity. As the title implies, “Historicity” was about the
determinative relationship between the past and the present, a potent but fairly abstract idea.
“Accelerando” is about human movement, especially dance: a more graspable premise, and one
that finds endless traction in the music. (Here too there’s an affinity with Mr. Moran, who has
composed for ballet, and Mr. Iverson, a former musical director for the Mark Morris Dance
Group.)
It’s important to note that pulse is rarely a stable element for this trio, which makes the most out of
Mr. Gilmore’s capacity for pairing a floating, semiabstract feeling with rhythmic undertow. On
“Actions Speak,” his lightly jagged funk complements a swarming repetition by Mr. Iyer; on “Lude”
he builds an almost imperceptible crescendo over a subtly lopsided groove.
“The Star of a Story,” a 1977 album track by the disco group Heatwave, takes on a machinelike but
artfully smudged beat, with a jackhammering high-hat and ride cymbal framing the woozy
imprecision of kick drum and snare. If that description evokes the style of a far-out electronic
producer like Flying Lotus, note that there’s also a cover of one of his tunes, “Mmmhmm,” adapted
to the palette of an acoustic trio.
And the album’s title track, originally part of a suite composed for Armitage Gone! Dance, finds
Mr. Iyer tracing a series of arpeggios with the lurching, tumbling cadence of a heavy gear turned by
hand. It’s a device that this trio also employed on “Historicity,” in the title track and a song called
“Helix.” But it gets a purer distillation here, imparting a feeling both disorienting and universally
familiar.
Cyclicality and permutation have been longtime preoccupations for Mr. Iyer. A mentor early in his
career was the alto saxophonist and composer Steve Coleman, who encouraged his interest in the
Carnatic music of his ancestry. (He was born in Albany to South Indian immigrants and grew up in
Rochester; his name is pronounced VID-jay EYE-yer.) Of course cyclicality and permutation also
have practical application in the sciences, especially mathematics and physics, the crux of Mr.
Iyer’s undergraduate studies at Yale.
“Accelerando” derives its vital sense of purpose from his further studies at the University of
California, Berkley, where he earned a Ph.D. in music and cognitive science. His dissertation,
published in 1998, is titled “Microstructures of Feel, Macrostructures of Sound: Embodied
Cognition in West African and African-American Musics.”
He has expanded on its core premise, a concept of musical awareness contingent on physical
experience, in subsequent writings, for both an academic and a general readership.
“Rhythm is the first thing we perceive about music,” he observed in an essay for The Guardian in
2009. “It hits us viscerally. Why? Perhaps it’s because the rhythms of music are not so different
from the inherent timescales of human bodies.”
Before recording for ACT, Mr. Iyer released albums on a series of American labels, like Pi,
Sunnyside and Savoy; “Accelerando” is his 16th. And in effect he has been exploring certain
principles all along.
That’s clear enough when you dive into his back catalog; it’s even clearer when you consult
“Selected Compositions 1999-2008,” just published by the sheet-music purveyor Mel Bay.
Reading down charts for some of Mr. Iyer’s older pieces, it’s easy to see how “Configurations,” from
his 2001 album “Panoptic Modes,” employs the same tempo-modulating sleight of hand found on
parts of “Accelerando.”
And make no mistake, these charts will be pored over, at least by some of the music students who
constitute a crucial part of Mel Bay’s buying public.
Some of those students may eventually find their way to the Banff International Workshop in Jazz
and Creative Music, in Alberta: a rite of passage for countless young jazz musicians, and a behindthe-scenes force in the music’s evolution.
Mr. Iyer was recently appointed the workshop’s new director. He’ll take the reins from the
trumpeter Dave Douglas next year.
Whatever the consequences of this arrangement, Mr. Iyer has a distinctive vision, a clear way of
articulating it, and a history of borrowings — Flying Lotus, M.I.A. — that skew smartly
contemporary.
You know how mutation works. In the near future what he’s doing now may not sound quite so
bracingly unique, because the mainstream will have morphed accordingly.
The Vijay Iyer Trio will perform April 10 to 14 at Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 5813080, birdlandjazz.com.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: March 16, 2012
A critic’s notebook article on Thursday about the jazz pianist Vijay Iyer misidentified the city where he
was born. It is Albany — not Rochester, which is where he grew up.
MORE IN MUSIC (1 OF 45 ARTICLES)
The Maestro’s Mojo
Read More »
Introducing BostonGlobe.com digital subscriptions, just 99¢ for your first 4 weeks.
Arts
MUSIC REVIEW
Innovative beats take jazz combos
to new heights
By Steve Greenlee | GLOBE STAFF
DECEMBER 12, 2011
KAYANA SZYMCZAK FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
Vijay Iyer performed Friday at the Berklee Performance Center.
Two of jazz’s most exciting and innovative artists - pianist Vijay Iyer and alto
saxophonist Miguel Zenón - brought their groups to town Friday night for a 2 1/2-hour
roof raiser of a show.
The concert at Berklee Performance Center, presented by the Celebrity Series of
Boston, illustrated that there are still so many places jazz can yet go.
The two sets had little in common. Zenón’s quartet focused on melody, harmonically
pleasing improvisation, and swing
rhythms. Iyer’s trio was more
interested in creating textures that
became grooves, many of which were
built around one or two chords,
fastened upon rhythms drawn from
rock and hip-hop.
Both sets, however, underscored one
fact: that an especially gifted drummer
can take on the central role in a jazz
combo and propel it to new heights.
Zenón’s group - with pianist Luis
Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig,
and drummer Henry Cole - went on
first and stretched four songs out to an
hour. The tunes all came from Zenón’s
recent album, “Alma Adentro,’’ which
marries jazz and Puerto Rican song.
“Silencio’’ began with the joyous
KAYANA SZYMCZAK FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
Miguel Zenón (with bassist Hans Glawischnig,
right) at Friday’s show.
sounds of a celebratory street party.
Zenón blew sinewy but romantic lines
over an insistent rhythm section, and he grew more fiery and intense as the minutes
wore on. Zenón stepped in place constantly as he played, padding like a cat looking for
a comfortable spot.
The group toyed with odd time signatures, too. “Silencio’’ was partly in 9/8, “Alma
Adentro’’ in 10/8. If they were challenging, it didn’t show, particularly with Cole. He
seemed to sink into the kit, or at least hide behind it, as he attacked in a controlled
frenzy. Nevertheless he became the star of the set.
Iyer’s trio is still capitalizing on the seeds sown from its outstanding 2009 album,
“Historicity,’’ even as the pianist has recorded with a few projects since then. Friday,
the trio - with bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore - crafted tunes
out of single notes; melodies and rhythms would come later.
Case in point: “The Star of a Story,’’ a cover of a forgotten song by the ’70s disco outfit
Heatwave. Iyer banged out two chords, and Crump thumped a single note. Gilmore
went clickity-clackity on the drums, and the overall effect was that of a base track for a
rap song. As it built and built, the band - and audience - got lost inside the groove.
They did it again on “Hood,’’ but this time the aesthetic was acoustic jazz imitating
electronica. But there were “serious jazz’’ moments too. Iyer chose his phrases
carefully - opting for long runs followed by a measure or two of silence - on a take of
Herbie Nichols’s off-kilter “Wildflower.’’
Gilmore’s unusual, restless performance came to the fore on “Actions Speak,’’ which
was probably an excuse to let the drummer run wild. Iyer and Crump placed a chord
and bass note every eight bars, to keep Gilmore anchored, and that gave him the
freedom to tap out some absolutely ridiculous, time-defying breaks.
Introducing BostonGlobe.com digital subscriptions, just 99¢ for your first 4 weeks.
Steve Greenlee can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter
@SteveGreenlee.
© 2011 THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY
Walker Art Center serves up Vijay Iyer's inspired jazz collaborations
By Dan Emerson Special to the Pioneer Press TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
Posted:
twincities.com
Having recorded 15 CDs as a leader since his first recording in 1996, young pianist Vijay Iyer has been one of the
most prolific composers in modern jazz, while performing with a number of improvisational groups.
So, rather than staging the usual one-night appearance, the Walker Art Center's programmers decided to present a
two-night "Sound of Surprise" festival featuring Iyer with various collaborators.
Thursday night's concert opened with an interesting duo performance by Iyer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, a
member of Chicago's influential Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Iyer is a former member of
Smith's Golden Quartet and spent six years recording and performing with the trumpeter.
Iyer carried on an extended musical dialogue with Smith, playing both Fender Rhodes and grand piano as well as
using a laptop computer to interject some prerecorded musical loops into the mix. Iyer then played a solo set,
opening with a beautifully deconstructed version of "Work" by Thelonious Monk. He followed that with an intensely
hyperactive piece from his debut recording, "Spellbound and Sacrosanct."
Iyer also played one of his newer originals, "Autoscopy," which featured dense note clusters, employing the
technical skill Iyer developed as a young student of classical piano.
The final set of the evening featured Iyer with his trio, which includes acoustic bassist Stephan Crump and drummer
Marcus Gilmore. Each of the pieces played by the threesome featured somewhat unconventional time signatures,
which fully exploited the rhythmic inventiveness of Gilmore, who is the grandson of one of the greatest jazz
drummers of all time, Roy Haynes.
The trio played several original compositions from its new CD "Accelerando," which will be released in mid-March.
Each of the pieces featured a combination of compositional intellect and polyrhythmic groove, which made for
absorbing listening.
Iyer performed at the Walker again Friday night, doing sets with hip-hop poet Mike Ladd and Iyer's trio Tirtha,
which features two musicians from India: guitarist Prasanna and tabla player Nitin Mitta.
Dan Emerson is a free-lance writer and musician in Minneapolis.
The Vijay Iyer Trio Takes Over
[15 March 2012]
By Will Layman
A Flat-Out Great Band
The Vijay Iyer Trio—Iyer on piano, Stefan Crump on bass, and Marcus Gilmore on drums—is the best band in jazz. The group’s new recording,
Accelerando is a bounty of pleasures and musical challenges. A band and a record this great calls for a public parade, or at least full on celebration.
Champagne for everyone, I say!
There are plenty of fine jazz groups today, and there’s no shortage of experimentation that’s pushing the music forward through hip-hop or classical
music while still keeping roots in the tradition. But Iyer’s trio is doing this with unique conviction, appeal and daring. This is a band that makes
complexity thrilling because everything it does is grounded in the rich rhythmic push and pull that is jazz’s—and American music’s—central thesis.
The Vijay Iyer Trio, however, is doing some things new and doing them differently. The group’s 2009 recording, Historicity, was its first without a horn
out front—and it was a statement of purpose that garnered notice from all over the jazz press. Covering music from all across the spectrum, the band
refracted tradition through a complex take on today’s dance rhythms. It did this as an explicitly acoustic jazz trio, however, thus advancing the jazz
vocabulary rather than making some kind of “crossover” music.
A Nearly Perfect Record
Accelerando is even more remarkable and dynamic—simply the best jazz record in recent memory. On this recording, the trio plays with an incredible
degree of integration, sounding like it has fully worked out a series of ideas about how a band should deal with rhythm and dynamic interaction in
today’s jazz. The music on Accelerando is immensely elastic, but it’s not loose. Rather, the band plays with a roaring, united front of sound, within which
the rich tradition of jazz plays out in scintillating conversation.
Iyer composed five of the 11 songs here, and these tracks seem to share a sense of rushing momentum that is designed to press the trio’s ability to
operate amidst swirling and surging currents of time. The twin tunes that open Accelerando, “Bode” and “Optimism”, work less as traditional melodies
than as slowing rising walls of sound and rhythm. The currency of Iyer’s trio is motion—a sense of that the three voices of the trio are in constant
motion with each other, around each other, even against each other, but with true choreographed care.
The second tune sets up two different rhythms in Iyer’s left and right hands, and then Gilmore and Crump follow suit by setting up their own contrasting
motions. What sounds initially like a composed set of contrapuntal lines gradually unfurls into improvisation, with each of these (four) voices staying in
contrasting motion, even as the players slowly mutate their playing.
All of this is remarkable and skillful and daring, but what makes this such a singular band is that these wildly contrasting voices somehow feel
completely united throughout and, at key moments, play with unmatched, coordinated power. At the end of “Optimism”’s bass solo, for example, Iyer
reenters the center of the music with a repeating, circular figure that slowly builds over a rising set of repetitions, which repetitions then become a set of
thrilling repeated notes, then quickly repeated chords, all rising in an incredible crescendo. Gilmore pushes the band harder as the repetitions build up,
Crump locks into his own pattern, the piano rises higher still—until a truly shattering climax. Your breath: long ago taken away.
Just as incredible are this trio’s set of takes on three complex but compelling pop songs. The Heatwave tune, “The Star of the Story” (written by Rod
Temperton in the ‘70s) is a classic piece of sophisticated groove music, and Iyer seems to understand it from the inside out. The trio begins by playing it
with great fidelity to the original but then sets off into a wild section that is grounded by a pounding Gilmore pattern setting off a bowed bass solo that
grows under a set of stuttering cross rhythms on piano. Once Crump drops back to playing a series of funky low notes, Iyer returns with a set of
variations on the tune’s theme that, again, build to amazing unity of purpose.
Even better is the Michael Jackson hit “Human Nature”, which starts with the recognizable piano lick and then moves to a straight melody statement
that is syncopated over an idiosyncratic, interlocking pattern that finds Gilmore and Crump mixing funk rhythms with sudden gaps of silence. In the way
Iyer digs into the melody (especially the second verse), there is just a bit of how The Bad Plus attacks a pop tune, but then the band moves into an
improvisation that shatters all expectations.
Nothing like regular “jazz”, this finds the rhythm section deepening the way it lurches through this groove, while Iyer plays largely like a drummer,
striking his right hand in staccato jabs while his left thumps in an octave pattern. And this combination of elements evolves and builds until the waves of
contrasting rhythms simply can’t be any more intense. And after a brief moment of silence, the melody returns until a long slow fade allows the song to
begin all over again at the piano lick. Magically, it means that the band can intensify even more greatly the second time and into a shattering, beautiful
ending.
A Unity of Purpose
In these pop songs, the trio seems to achieve a unity of purpose that the other material allows less of. For example, on “MmmHmm”, the band sounds
just a little bit like a fusion band (like an acoustic Return to Forever, sort of) because Crump plays a specific written pattern and Gilmore plays fast and
light. But in Iyer, the trio has a leader who harnesses driving pop power with astonishing daring. The “MmmHmm” solo starts out as a simple scramble
of notes and then gets deliciously weirder and more scintillating. It forces Crump to follow suit before the melody returns, as if a sense of dramatic risk
were contagious. Which in a good band is true.
This unity of sound and purpose comes up again and again all across Accelerando. “Little Pocket Size Demons”, by Henry Threadgill, is a dashing,
double-jointed joy, with a few simple groove patterns setting up a non-stop party for your ears. “Accelerando” is true to its name, letting time compress
and contract in what seems like a feeling actually beyond time—yet what may impress you most is how the cycling patterns and arpeggios seem to
shimmer with color and light. It works, again, because the whole band is committed to something tricky but singular.
Iyer concludes the program with its most intriguing and surprising performance, a delicate and then majestic take on Duke Ellington’s “The Village of the
Virgins”. Ellington wrote this piece for a ballet, and this performance is another one that favors motion—but a swaying, insistent kind of thing. There is
gospel music in it, and there is the buoyant lift of hope too.
Three As One
All of the music on Accelerando sways and swaggers, surges and shudders with power. It’s the sound of a style of music rediscovering its ability to move
a whole body or a whole room. It’s the power of three men, playing like ten but mainly playing like one, who have a single conception that requires then
to playing in very different ways, simultaneously.
It’s the best album of 2012 in jazz by the best band in jazz, no doubt. The Vijay Iyer Trio sounds like jazz history in real time, unfurling for your
personal revelation.
Listen up: this is why music matters.
Will Layman is a writer, teacher and musician living in the Washington, DC area. He is a contributor to National Public Radio and frequently appears as a
guest on WNYC's "Soundcheck" as a jazz critic. He is a regular contributor to YankeePotRoast.org, McSweeney's Internet Tendency and several other
web publications.
Published at: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/155631-the-vijay-iyer-trio-takes-over/
advertising | about | contributors | submissions
© 1999-2010 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved. PopMatters.com™ and PopMatters™ are trademarks of PopMatters Media, Inc.
PopMatters is a member of the BUZZMEDIA Music advertising network.
NEWS
THE CURRENT
CLASSICAL
Archive
Events
Member info
Support
Shop
About us
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Member Supported · Join Now ›
Search MPR
GO
Mobile
46° in Twin Cities
Newsletters
(more cities)
RSS Feeds
Weather Report ›
Podcasts
Traffic Report ›
< Videotect 2: And the winners are... | Main | Harry Belafonte to visit the Walker Art Center for film retrospective >
Vijay Iyer, an American treasure
Posted at 2:45 PM on March 2, 2012 by David Cazares (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music
When Vijay Iyer begins to create at the piano, the sounds that emerge change space and time.
Much like the jazz master Thelonious Monk, Iyer takes an unconventional approach, fusing rich and dissonant chords and harmonies with altered timing. In a sense,
he is creating an artful noise.
Iyer's lush playing during a Thursday night concert at the Walker Art Center left no doubt as to why he's considered an emerging American treasure, a pianist who
carries on his genre's storied past, but in a way that reflects his time and experiences.
In an aptly titled program "The Sound of Surprise," the affable Iyer is appearing for two nights at the Walker, where he performed several years ago. The pianist returns
to the Walker tonight for a different program that includes poet and electronic artist Mike Ladd, and the group Tirtha, featuring Nittan Mitta on tabla drums and
Prasanna on guitar.
Iyer, 40, called Thursday night's show "one of the most humbling experiences of my life."
Delivering an expansive repertoire of standards, pop tunes and original compositions, Iyer and his fellow performers hooked the audience with virtuosity, emotion and
vision. Its surprises began to emerge in the opening notes of the pianist's inventive 30-minute collaboration with stellar trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, whom he
performed with for six years.
With Iyer playing a grand piano and Fender Rhodes and employing computerized effects and recorded beats, the duo showed what is possible when artists begin an
expansive conversation in which they play off each other's statements, weaving layered textures and moments of silence into their improvisations.
To watch Iyer play is to see him replay his process of discovery, stretching his mind and fingers to explore new possibilities and free-flowing ideas while delivering
percussive licks. Smith's artful breaths, wails and melodic flourishes took concert-goers on a floating ride.
From there, the largely self-taught pianist moved on to an impressive body of work from three stellar records: "Historicity," a 2009 work by his trio; "Solo," from 2010;
and "Accelerando," his trio's soon-to-be released album on Act Records.
Iyer delivered a master class in improvisation on solo piano, introducing fragments of melody and engaging listeners emotionally before exploring his themes with
artful repetition and variations. His playing on the Monk tune "Work" was a nod not just to history and his musical hero, but also to the master's enduring legacy.
On his own tune "Spellbound, Sacrosanct, Cowrie shells and the Shimmering Sea," Iyer showed imagination and his intense musical vocabulary, including arpeggios,
rich chords and sparking runs. "Autoscopy," a song that refers to an out of body experience, was just that for listeners. From above, one could see how he attacked the
piano, delivering rumbling lines and classical stirrings that conveyed action and movement. It was dizzying to watch.
But Iyer perhaps saved his best work for his acclaimed trio, which includes bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Together, they delivered a mix of
complementing - and contrasting - rhythms and harmonies.
Launching into the title track from "Accerlerando," a recording based on dance rhythms, the musicians showed how great American music reflects the constantly
accelerating tempos, beats and challenges of modern life. The tunes "Optimism" and "Lude," played back-to-back, were rooted in jazz but very modern.
Some of the trio's most intriguing work was its complex renditions of pop tunes the musicians clearly know and understand, most notably "The Star of a Story," written
by Rod Temperton of the R&B group Heatwave in 1977. "Someone told me it was a slow dance tune," Iyer said afterwards. "We did something different with it."
Something great.
Similarly, the group delivered a jazzy and intricate take on another pop classic, the song "Human Nature" from Michael Jackson's Thriller album. It was as good or
better than the version by Miles Davis in the mid 1980s.
They closed the set with "Smokestack" a 1960s tune by pianist Andrew Hill -- and a terrific multilayered drum solo by Gillmore. His grandfather, the master drummer
Roy Haynes, played on Hill's recording.
With the jazz world losing so many of its greats in recent years, it's encouraging to see vibrant performers step boldly into the creative space.
It was a night of masterful technique - and great expressiveness. Monk would be proud.
Recommend
Matt Merewitz and 10 others recommend this.
Post a comment
The following HTML tags are allowed in your comments:
+ Bold: <b>Text</b>
+ Italic: <i>Text</i>
+ Link: <a href="http://url" target="_blank">Link</a>
Fields marked with * are required.
Name*:
E-mail Address*:
URL:
Remember personal info?
Comments*:
Preview
Post
Comment Preview appears above this form upon pressing the "preview" button. Edit your comment and press "preview" again, until you are satisfied with your comment.
Your comment may not appear on the blog until several minutes after it was submitted.
SPONSORS
Iyer Trio knows what’s going on
By Steve Greenlee
Globe Staff
/
February 21, 2011
CAMBRIDGE — Five days earlier, Vijay Iyer was at the Grammy Awards, where his trio’s “Historicity’’ was nominated
for best jazz instrumental album. Though “Historicity’’ was indeed the best of the bunch, the late James Moody’s
“Moody 4B’’ took home the statue. Friday night, the genial Iyer was sitting at the Regattabar’s piano, head bowed as
he spoke softly into the microphone.
“It was nice to be nominated and’’ — pause — “observe what goes on.’’
After introducing bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore, he dived into an impressionistic opening
phrase that settled into a groove, aided by Crump’s in-unison plucking. Gilmore saw his opening, and pounded out a
rhythm that fell somewhere in the middle of bop, rock, and a march.
Communication is what this group is all about. The slightest change in melody, shift in tempo, or even a quick look
toward another musician was a clue to move in a new direction. To suit the task, Gilmore’s kit was angled exactly
toward Iyer, so that the drummer could see the pianist’s every move, even if that meant Gilmore’s back had to face a
good chunk of the audience.
No complaints; it made for some mad stick work. Gilmore, whose grandfather is the legendary Boston-reared
drummer Roy Haynes, was as much the star as Iyer Friday night. His assertive, insistent beats propelled Iyer to do
things he might not otherwise have done. Gilmore provided the thrust that pushed Iyer to attach against-time phrases
onto the rhythm and insert contrapuntal punctuations into crevices. Twice, Gilmore smacked the snare so hard that
half the audience jumped.
Iyer drew the first set’s material not only from “Historicity’’ but also from his more recent “Solo’’ album, his
forthcoming Indian-themed work “Tirtha,’’ and his 2005 disc “Reimagining.’’ It was sometimes hard to tell where one
song ended and the next began. “Lude’’ blended into “Optimum.’’ “Dogon A.D.’’ segued into “Cardio.’’
On that second medley, the trio spun like a cyclone. Gilmore churned out a rhythm that approximated that of
electronic jungle music a la Aphex Twin, while Marcus plucked maniacally (often while vocalizing) and Iyer played
defiantly arrhythmic runs and thick chords. Suddenly the tone turned mysterious, and Iyer plinked spare notes in the
highest octave like icicles falling in the woods. It all climaxed in a maelstrom of cymbal bashing, upright bass assault,
and a rapid succession of long-sustained chords.
Then for something completely different, the trio took on Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.’’ Gilmore laid down an
off-kilter rhythm pattern, and Iyer deliberately delayed the melodic motif, striking blue notes where none previously
existed and omitting other notes for effect. He sped through the refrain on purpose, and used bits and pieces of the
melody as the basis for ostinatos, giving them the effect of samples in a hip-hop song. With those in place, the trio
spun itself into another storm.
Steve Greenlee can be reached at [email protected].
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.