Since the inception of this site in 2009, pianist Vijay Iyer has been on a tear producing album after album of deeply compelling, intricate, powerful and addictive music, each time one-upping himself in terms of magistery and mastery of his instrument. To reward the breadth of his work, the virtuoso was awarded in 2013 a MacArthur fellowship, earning him the official title of genius. Although we admire all of Iyer’s work, whether his 2010 aptly named solo album, Solo, his 2011 opus, Tirtha, featuring Indian musicians Prasanna and Nitin Mitta, or more recently his 2014 ECM debut Mutations featuring a string quartet, we can’t help ourselves from being slightly biased towards his longstanding trio with bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Case in point, Break Stuff, Iyer’s latest album released last February once again on ECM, is considered by many as his best work to date. To celebrate the release, the trio performed last March at the Temple of Dendur, the Egyptian temple which resides within New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Catch their set below the jump courtesy of NPR’s Jazz Night in America.
Sébastien Hélary co-founded Nextbop in 2009 with the objective of introducing modern jazz music to a younger generation of fans. Aside from music, his other main obsession is food, particularly ramen and other Japanese delicacies.
