Vijay Iyer
Dubbed one of the “new stars of jazz” by U.S. News & World Report, and one of “today’s most important pianists” by The New Yorker, Vijay Iyer is a singular talent — a forceful, rhythmically invigorating performer who weds a cutting-edge sensibility to a unique sense for compositional balance. In a Village Voice feature on Iyer, Gary Giddins wrote, “He has aligned himself with the percussive school of jazz piano… but he doesn’t sound like any of them. His sound is his own, and you would recognize it in a blindfold test.” An exceptional, forward-thinking composer, Iyer draws from African, Asian, and European musical lineages to create fresh, original music in the American creative tradition. His music strikes you as both emotionally expressive and structurally sophisticated, with exuberant improvisations anchored in cyclical rhythmic structures and ringing harmonies. He recently received the 2003 Alpert Award in the Arts, a prestigious year-long fellowship to support his innovative, compelling work.
The son of Indian immigrants, Iyer was born and raised in upstate New York, where he started violin lessons at the age of three. Soon he was drawn to his sister’s piano, where he began picking out melodies at age six. Entirely self-taught as a pianist and composer, he was lured into jazz in his teens, performing original music with his own groups throughout college. His choice of a professional musical career came rather late, after earning a Masters in physics at age 22. Then, as his musical accomplishments multiplied, he still managed to earn an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in music and cognitive science at U.C. Berkeley in 1998. He then made a beeline for New York City, where he currently resides.
Artist’s website
Articles on Vijay Iyer
09/11/12 Features By Josef Woodard
Five Years Beyond: Musicians Reflect on 9/11
04/19/12 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Awards $5.775 Million to 21 Artists
01/31/12 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Vijay Iyer Awarded Prestigious Greenfield Prize
01/05/12 News By JazzTimes
Reminder: APAP|NYC and JazzTimes collaborate on DIY Crash Course Today!
01/03/12 News By Jeff Tamarkin
NYC Winter Jazzfest Announces Updated Schedule
12/14/11 Concerts By Bill Beuttler
Miguel Zenón/Vijay Iyer @ Berklee, 12/9/11
11/21/11 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Vijay Iyer Appointed Director of Banff Centre’s Jazz Program
11/13/11 Photos By Victor Puig
Barcelona Jazz Festival 2011
11/09/11 Concerts By Thomas Conrad
Skopje Jazz Festival, October 20-24, 2011
11/08/11 Before & After By Bill Milkowski
Tyshawn Sorey Takes the Before & After Challenge
10/09/11 News By Jeff Tamarkin
Voll-Damm Barcelona International Jazz Festival Set for October 16-December 1
09/30/11 News By Jeff Tamarkin
2012 Portland Jazz Festival Headliners Announced
09/05/11 On the Scene with MOJA By Russ Davis
Detroit Jazz Festival, Day Three: Music & Fireworks
08/11/11 Concerts By Bill Milkowski
Litchfield Jazz Festival 2011
03/10/11 News By Lee Mergner
Fieldwork in Residence at Ars Nova Workshop
October 2010 Albums By Thomas Conrad
Solo
Vijay Iyer
October 2010 Albums By Thomas Conrad
Solo
Vijay Iyer
09/06/10 News By Lee Mergner
Celebrating Ornette Coleman
08/04/10 Concerts By Thomas Conrad
Review of Heineken Jazzaldia Festival De Jazz
06/29/10 Concerts By Jonathan Goldman
Vijay Iyer at Montreal International Jazz Festival
01/08/10 News By Lee Mergner
Conference of Performing Arts Presenters to Include Expanded Jazz Track
January/February 2010 Solo By Vijay Iyer
Thelonious Monk: Ode To A Sphere
January/February 2010 Critics Picks By JazzTimes
Critics Picks: Top 50 New Albums and Top 10 Historical Releases
October 2009 Albums By David Whiteis
Historicity
Vijay Iyer Trio
October 2009 Albums By David Whiteis
Historicity
Vijay Iyer Trio
June 2008 Albums By Steve Greenlee
Tragicomic
Vijay Iyer
05/15/08 Concerts By Bill Milkowski
Miles From India
June 2007 Albums By Mike Shanley
Still Life With Commentator
Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd
June 2007 Albums By Mike Shanley
Still Life With Commentator
Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd
12/09/06 Concerts By David R. Adler
Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd: Still Life With Commentator
December 2006 Features By Christopher Porter
Space is the Place: Jazz Artists Tap into the Power of MySpace
September 2006 Albums By David R. Adler
Raw Materials
Vijay Iyer & Rudresh Mahanthappa
September 2006 Albums By David R. Adler
Raw Materials
Vijay Iyer & Rudresh Mahanthappa
01/24/06 Concerts By Bill Milkowski
NYC Winter Jazzfest 2006
January/February 2006 Top 50 CDs of 2005 By
Reimagining
Vijay Iyer
January/February 2006 Top 50 CDs of 2005 By
Reimagining
Vijay Iyer
12/05/05 Concerts By David R. Adler
Wadada Leo Smith’s Golden Quartet
June 2005 Albums By Thomas Conrad
Reimagining
Vijay Iyer
June 2005 Albums By Thomas Conrad
Reimagining
Vijay Iyer
June 2005 Features By Nate Chinen
Vijay Iyer: Othering
01/11/05 Concerts By Bill Milkowski
NYC Winter Jazzfest 2005
January/February 2004 Features By
Highs and Lows 2003
November 2003 Albums By Nate Chinen
Blood Sutra
Vijay Iyer
09/09/03 Concerts By Bill Milkowski
Guelph Jazz Festival 2003
September 2003 Features By Bill Shoemaker
East Meets Left: Politics, Culture and Asian-American Jazz
05/13/03 Concerts By Nate Chinen
Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd: In What Language?
January/February 2003 Cadenza By Gary Giddins
I Remember Chirpy
10/29/02 Concerts By Bill Shoemaker
San Francisco Jazz Festival 2002
January/February 2002 Hearsay By Bill Bennett
Vijay Iyer
Events featuring Vijay Iyer
- Bang on a Can Marathon
- Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd: Still Life With Commentator
- NYC Winter Jazzfest 2006
- Wadada Leo Smith’s Golden Quartet
- NYC Winter Jazzfest 2005
- San Francisco Jazz Festival 2002
- Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd: In What Language?
- Miles From India
- San Francisco Jazz Festival
- Vijay Iyer Trio at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
- Salzburger Jazz-Herbst
- Litchfield Jazz Festival
- Vijay Iyer Sextet at the Jazz Standard
- Fieldwork at the Stone
- Fieldwork at the Stone in NYC
- Cuneifest 2011 - Jazz Day
- Portland Jazz Festival
- Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival
- Healdsburg Jazz Festival
- 20th Anniversary Caramoor Jazz Festival
- 2013 Caramoor Summer Music Festival
Albums
Panoptic Modes
Blood Sutra
In What Language?
Reimagining
Raw Materials
Tragicomic
Still Life With Commentator
Historicity
E-mail
Share
RSS
Report