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Vijay Iyer – Mutations<\/p>\n
Vijay Iyer, piano and electronics; Miranda Cuckson, violin; Michi Wiancko, violin; Kyle Armbrust, viola; Kivie Cahn-Lipman, violoncello<\/p>\n
ECM Records CD ECM 2372<\/p>\n
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Pianist and composer Vijay Iyer makes his debut on the ECM imprint with Mutations<\/em>, a recording of three piano pieces (two of them electronically enhanced) and the title work, a quintet for piano, string quartet, and electronics. The electronics involved are triggered from a laptop. Most are samples of stringed instruments making non-pitched sounds which are often used as rhythmic gestures or else as atmosphere.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n The CD presents both Iyer\u2019s notated music and improvisations. Rather than try to make a seamless transition between these two aspects of music-making, they are placed side by side in Mutations<\/em>, with concert music for quartet in the spirit of Ligeti and Reich abutting jazz piano solos. All of the various elements – notated composition in modern and minimal veins, electronics, improvisation – dart in and out of the proceedings, creating a stylistically kaleidoscopic effect. What unites these disparate elements is the abundant musicality with which Iyer deploys them.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n Other projects on ECM have been announced to follow Mutations<\/em>, including recordings with small jazz groups and large ensemble. But leading with this CD is an audacious move that signals a new, ands thus far fascinating, chapter in Iyer\u2019s body of recorded works. Recommended.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n