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Pianist and composer Vijay Iyer is one of the 2013 recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship
Grant, better known as a Genius Grant, and in the very same week his appointment as the
first Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts at Harvard University was
announced - quite a week. The least we can do is help celebrate with a mix of live
material from the Vijay Iyer Trio, featuring the pianist, Stephan Crump on bass and
drummer Marcus Gilmore.
I was surprised, as I looked over my collection, just how much material I have from Iyer’s
other projects, including recordings with Tirtha, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Mike Ladd and solo
material; but I love the trio best, with its oscillations between flurries of notes and
clockwork meshing of gears. To open we have the group’s cover of Henry Threadgill’s
"Little Pocket Size Demons," a tight, hectic tune; followed by Iyer’s signature
"Historicity" > Stevie Wonder’s "Big Brother." To close, we have a long version of
"Trident" with Justin Brown sitting in on drums to wonderful effect. It’s worth noting
that Jason Moran also won a Genius Grant a few years back, which means we’re just waiting
on Ethan Iverson’s to complete the trifecta of great pianists of a generation.
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WEEK'S MIX
Written By: Dan Alford
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[Published on: 10/7/13]
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