Vijay Iyer - Tragicomic
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Free Music Notes for Tragicomic
Free Music Review: Six Stars
Hit: 5 Stars
After listening to and enjoying "Reimagining" since its release, I was a little worried that the Iyer Quartet had peaked. How could they top that wonderful album?
In the past couple of months, I've had "Tragicomic" on heavy rotation, and I must say now that it has somehow improved on perfection.
This music isn't easy to listen to, though, as some have noted, it's possibly Iyer's most accessible album to date. First couple of encounters might leave you feeling lost in the vortices of sound.
The opening track, "The Weight of Things," is dreamy, a great introduction to the sound world of the album. "Coming Up," a Bud Powell cover that makes great use of arpeggi and, just when you least expect it, reggae-like syncopations, is the track most likely to get radio play (if such radio existed!). "Without Lions" is made of alternating solos between Iyer and Mahanthappa. There's some absolutely stunning phrasing from both of them on this one, and Mahanthappa's first solo in particular takes my breath away every single time.
The Iyer quartet has always been metrically sophisticated, rarely more so than on "Age of Everything" which brings to mind "Cardio" and "Phalanx" from the "Reimaginings" album. The tight ostinato arguments laid out by the rhythm section will be familiar to fans. Bassist Stephan Crump is the heartbeat of the operation, a virtuoso. Listening to these ostinato-centered tracks, I can just picture him the way he is on stage, dancing with the bass, playing it almost like it were a percussion instrument. His joy in the work shines through on every track that features the bass.
"I'm All Smiles" is a cute solo track that almost sounds like a drunk-waltz version of "All the Things You Are."
The last two tracks, "Threnody" and "Becoming," are down-tempo. This band can play fast and smart, but they've also got serious lyrical depth. "Threnody" is a dirge that gains power by accretion.
"Becoming," for the trio, takes us back into the mood of "The Weight of Things." The arpeggiated pools of that open it sound almost like a muezzin's improvisation or an oud solo, and they lead into a simple eight note melody (the first four directly lifted from "The Weight of Things") that is repeated several times over the swirling texture of Gilmore's brushes. The album fades away like a prophetic vision.
One more thing: the liner notes. For many first or second generation Americans, gaining some distance from the African-American experience is de rigeur (i.e. within a generation, show that you've achieved the American dreams, become like the whites, leaving the blacks in last place). Iyer, without getting too much into it, shows a sensitivity to the African-American experience of the blues. Iyer instinctively knows that no encounter with the America can afford to gloss over the black experience; that, indeed, the tragedy and comedy of the black experience, particularly as expressed in the blues, could be the key to the whole thing. In his notes, he quotes Cornell West to powerful effect.
Anyway, that has nothing to do with the music, but it does tell us that the intelligence behind it is a complete one. It's surely time to stop calling him a rising star, time to drop the "rising."
Highly recommended disc. Six stars.
Free Music Review: groundbreaking
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a groundbreaking album for contemporary jazz. After "Reimagining" and "Raw Materials", Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa climb to new heights...
Iyer's complex but enjoyable compositons and "m-based piano solos", plus Mahanthappa's groovy style are really great. Stephan Crump on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums are passionate players who polish the light on these compositions.
"The Weight of Things" is a perfect intro, giving the feel of a tunnel that you're passing to reach the wealth of music. Then came the explosion: "Macaca Please", the structure of compositon is like a whirlpool. "Aftermath" is like a river flowing to infinity. "Comin up" is the summit of trio playing. "Mehndi" is the silent voyage etc... All compositons are great and telling their own stories... There's no blank in this CD... Really perfect...
Free Music Review: Beautifully Complex Compositions
Hit: 5 Stars
Overview:
With Tragicomic, Vijay Iyer brings back the same group from Reimagining (Rudresh Mahanthappa on sax, Stephen Crump on bass, Marcus Gilmore on drums). The overall mood of the album is a bit more somber and reflective than Reimagining, and a little bit less frenetic. The compositions, and particularly the time signatures and rhythm section have gotten even more complex. At first the rhythmic complexity can seem a bit overwhelming but after a few listens you really start to appreciate the uniqueness of Vijay's style and enjoy the ridiculousness of some of the insane drum and bass lines. Rudresh's sax tends to be a little less of his traditional ballistic assault on scales, and a little bit more lyrical than usual. While I enjoy what he has done in the past it is quite nice to see a more lyrical side of the young star. The highlight of the album are the 4 commissioned pieces from Iyer's Tragicomic Suite (Aftermath, Without Lions, Machine Days, Threnody) where Iyer has taken his compositions skills to another level.
Song Highlights:
The Weight of Things: This gorgeous 2+ minute introduction really sets the mood for the whole album. Mahanthappa's haunting, reflective sax line combined with Iyer's cascading flowing piano segues perfectly into Macaca Please.
Aftermath: The first of 4 songs from the Tragicomic suite opens with a somber repetitive piano line from Iyer, who is quickly joined by a reflective Mahanthappa sax. There is a very epic and somber mood on this track with a lot of feeling.
Without Lions: The track opens with a staccato chord progression that segues into a section with Vijay and Rudresh trade off short solo lines for several minutes. Another fine example of the wonderful chemistry between these two long time friends and collaborators.
Machine Days: Machine Days opens with a heartbeat pounding of Gilmore's bass drum. He is soon joined by Iyer on the low keys. After a short duet, the rest of the band joins in with a frenetic melody (classic Mahanthappa).
Summary: Vijay Iyer has always written complex fascinating songs, and has been a thinking man's favorite. On this release he combines these skills with some of his most emotional and mood inspired work.