Vijay Iyer

by Jason Ankeny
Born in 1971 to parents who emigrated from India to the U.S. in the 1960s, the Bay Area-based composer and pianist Vijay Iyer led three distinct combos: Spirit Complex, the Poisonous Prophets, and the Vijay Iyer Trio. All three groups appeared on the musician's 1995 debut on Asian Improv, Memorophilia, a collection fusing jazz forms with the rhythms of South Asian music. In addition to working to create interactive software for improvised musical performance, Iyer worked frequently with alto saxophonist and M-Base pioneer Steve Coleman in his groups the Mystic Rhythm Society and the Secret Doctrine, and occasionally sat in with the Five Elements. By the time of Panoptic Modes' release in late 2001, Iyer had a working quartet with alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, bassist Stephan Crump, and drummer Derrek Phillips. Phillips gave way to Tyshawn Sorey, and the quartet released Blood Sutra in 2003. At the same time, Iyer was working with hip-hop's Mike Ladd on In What Language?, an examination of the often dehumanizing world of international travel in a post 9-11 world, also released in 2003. He continued working with Mahanthappa and Ladd, appearing on Mahanthappa's Mother Tongue in 2004 and Ladd's Negrophilia: The Album in 2005 before releasing his own Reimagining, also in 2005. He was back with Mahanthappa for 2006's Raw Materials and Ladd for 2007's Still Life with Commentator. Tragicomic appeared in 2008.