Vijay Iyer solo piano concert at the Carnegie Room of the Nyack Library March 9, 2012

The pianist Vijay Iyer is one of the most celebrated jazz musicians of his generation. He has garnered an endless collection of awards from the press,a cult-like following by his fans and deserved respect and recognition from his fellow musicians. With this in mind, it was with anxious anticipation that I ventured to the Carnegie Room at the Nyack Library to see this phenom play solo piano.

The Rockland County Jazz and Blues Society is one of those vibrant organizations that for twenty-five years has been promoting both the heritage and the appreciation of jazz and blues music. In addition to Mr. Iyer, the President, Richard Sussman, a gifted pianist in his own right, has presented special performances by pianists Rachel Z and the tasteful Kenny Werner this season.

The Carnegie room is an elegant setting. With its warm wood details and its limestone clad fireplace, the room's large open hearth is used as a backdrop, framing the gleaming black Yamaha Grand piano at center stage. Seating just one hundred, it is an extraordinarily intimate setting for piano or chamber music.

The forty year old Mr.Iyer was impeccably dressed in suit and tie. He approached the piano with a perceived reverence, took a seat, closed his eyes and after brief reflection began with a tune by Thelonious Monk titled “We See”. The unorthodox approach would have made the old master of quirky melodies proud. Mr. Iyer produced a rhythmic undertone by the repeated use of single note motifs with his left hand. The tune was vaguely familiar to those who know Monk's music but thoroughly individualistic. That seemed to be the theme of the evening, as Mr.Iyer has a harmonic language that defies convention or predictability.

The second song was one of Iyer’s own compositions titled “Spellbound and Sacroscant” from his 1995 release Memorphilia. The beautifully evocative piece was a fascinating exploration. Watching his fingers I was reminded of lithe spider legs moving ever so delicately, although at times with astonishing speed, over the keyboard. His legato right hand produced expansive ideas as the ostinato of his left hand held you riveted. He showed a mastery of dynamics as he modulated from whisper-like pianissimo to thundering fortissimo throughout the piece.

The third song of the first set was a composition by the pianist Andrew Hill, like Monk another of Mr. Iyer's admitted inspirations. The song was played in 7/8 time and titled “Siete Ocho.” Mr. Iyer stabbed at his keys punctuating each note. At times he created a drone-like sound ,but his approach was true to both Mr. Hill’s tricky rhythmic and harmonic sensibilities.

Mr.Iyer gave a thoughtful introduction to his next composition “Autoscopy” which he explained is a musical expression of having an out of body experience. As if in a trance, with eyes closed and hands starting slow and deliberately, Mr.Iyer created an eruptive cauldron of sounds. His hands blurred as he frenetically cascaded up and down the keyboard in a wild display of free expression. He was euphemistically deconstructing his own atoms, ultimately floating above the music he was creating.

The highlight of the evening was Mr.Iyer’s magical re-construction of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”. The tune started off deceptively concealed by Mr.Iyer’s clever introduction, but when the distinctive line was finally exposed it became apparent at how authentically original Mr.Iyer’s harmonies can be.

The first set ended with a more traditional telling of the Duke Ellington classic “Black and Tan Fantasy” where the pianist's stride-like left hand comping was a nod to the tradition of the old masters like Ellington himself and Ellington's inspiration Willie “the Lion” Smith.

The second set included another piece by Thelonious Monk, this time the more familiar “Epistrophy,” which Iyer performed beautifully and which he recorded on his 2010 album Vijay Iyer Solo.

Iyer’s own “Abundance” from his Tirtha album of 2011 was just that, a sumptuous feast of beautiful sounds. A spellbinding version of “Tangerine” provided a Tristano connection.

An Art Tatum-like approach to “Darn That Dream” was Iyer’s one concession to the great American songbook, again played with a glancing nod to the tradition. Iyer introduced the next song., "Patterns", by explaining its genesis, a Southern Indian tradition of creating geometric designs in sand.

Mr. Iyer ended the evening of music with a dedication to another of his inspirations, the extraterrestrial bandleader Sun Ra. The composition titled “One for Blount,” an allusion to Sun Ra’s real name Herman Poole Blount, featured Mr. Iyer’s use of double handed block chording in a stirring finale.

Vijay Iyer is a musical force to be reckoned with. According to his bio, he is a polymath, a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. With degrees in mathematics, physics and a Ph d in Technology and the Arts, it is no wonder why his music is so fascinatingly fertile. His complex harmonies and creative use of rhythmic devices are all designed to stimulate the cognitive mind while at the same time reaching out to touch the humanity in us all. It will be a fascinating journey to follow his musical development as he continues to push the limits of his music.

The 2010 Jazz Journalist Association Awards at City Winery, NYC

Last night I attended the 2010 Jazz Journalist Association Awards ceremony at the City Winery in lower Manhattan. The event was a joyful meeting of the jazz community, bringing together the musicians, publicists, record producers, journalists, broadcasters and educators who all in some way symbiotically allow this art form to flourish.

Jazz, as a musical genre, is as diverse as the community it serves. The performers that graced the stage of the City Winery, as well as the award recipients were emblematic of this wonderfully unifying reality. The event would have been impossible without the dedicated work of JJA president Howard Mandell and several supporting members including the tireless efforts of event co-producer Yvonne Ervin.

The attendees were treated to various homemade wines and
hors d'oeuvres by the venue's gracious host Michael Dorf, owner of the City Winery. The performances were somewhat overshadowed by the bustle of the normally savvy and discerning crowd. With so many heroes, contemporaries, fellow artisans and fellow writers in the attendance, it was just too difficult for many of the attendees to quietly focus on the music. People milled around, meeting, greeting and mingling in a rare chance to connect. The ceremony was simulcast live, with streaming broadcasts to parties that were organized in other satellite cities. The  performers valiantly carried on, oblivious to the ambient buzz. The internationalism of the music ranged from the thoughtful solo styling of  Japanese pianist Ayaho  Shirasaki, to the deceptively easy listening sounds of the Serbian guitarist Rale Micic, with his Balkan folk music infused jazz trio. The home grown sounds of DC born  Marc Cary's Focus Trio played with an intensity that had many in the audience mesmerized. Colorado born saxophonist Tia Fuller , a  member of Beyonce's all female band, headed her own Quartet with the alto saxophonist  showing her prowess on the horn.  Bobby Sanabria's grammy nominated Big Band ended the evening's music with a smokin' set of Latin-infused big band music that got everyone's feet tapping.

I won't go into listing all the nominees and the winners of the awards as they can be found in a beautifully succinct and organized fashion at JazzTimes here .

Some of the highlights of the evening were Darcy James Argue's  two awards for "Best Up and Coming Artist" of the year and "Best Large Ensemble of the Year" for his incredible "Secret Societies" debut album  "Infernal Machines".

Despite a traumatic year in which he freakishly broke his arm twice, Joe Lovano won three awards- one for "Tenor Saxophonist of the Year", one for "Best Small Ensemble of the Year" with his "Us Five" group and the prestigious "Record of the Year" award for his brilliant  "Folk Art".

 In deference to a solid body of work, the saxophonist James Moody was honored with the "Lifetime Achievement" award, but was unable to attend due to recent surgery. The audience was sprinkled with plenty of other jazz veterans including past award winner altoist Lee Konitz, saxophonist Lew Tabakin, chanteuse Sheila Jordan,  saxophonist Jimmy Heath, producer of the year George Wein, trombonist of the year Roswell Rudd and this year's award winner for best organist Dr. Lonnie Smith along with other journeymen musicians and writers. 

Youth was also in abundance at this years awards ceremony, a sign of a bright and vital future for this music. "Musician of the Year" pianist Vjay Iyer, "Alto Saxophonist of the Year" Rudresh Mahanthappa, "Up and Coming Artist of the Year" composer/ arranger Darcy James Argue, mallet master award winner Stefon Harris and drummer extraordinaire Matt Wilson were all in attendance.

I came unaccompanied to the event, but with all the love in the room, a love generated from a love of this music, I wound up having a great time sharing a table with two wonderful singers, female vocalist Perez and male vocalist and award nominee Giacomo Gates. Also seated at my table were two other nominees, the dynamic baritone saxophonist Claire Daly and talented flautist/composer Jamie Baum.

In keeping with the international flavor of the event the "Jazz Picture of the Year" was awarded to a black and white shot of the trumpeter Tom Harrell, set against a huge curtain by Russian photog Lena Adasheva. Click to here to view.

Fellow blogger Doug Ramsey won best "Blog of the  Year" for Rifftides, congratulations to Doug.
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It was a great time of celebration. The outpouring of love and camaraderie that this community has is both heart warming and inspiring. The JJA should be applauded for creating and fostering this forum of recognition and celebration. Despite the harsh economic realities of the music business in particular and the economy in general, I came away with a renewed spirit of hopefulness. Hopefulness that this music is the key to a communication that fosters tolerance, inclusion and spirituality and needs no translation. Hopefulness that this music transcends nationalistic borders, cultural differences and is immune to totalitarian restrictions. This year, with many awards going to younger artists who have an ever expanding creative vision of the future of jazz music, I have come to believe that we are on the dawn of a new era for this music. Bandwidth is the highway to global interactivity and cooperation. It recognizes no boundaries, proving to be both pervasive and resilient to attempts at censorship . Music, and in particular jazz music, is the universal interpreter of the cooperative message of love.