Keyboardist-composer Vijay Iyer's energized sequence of ECM releases has garnered copious international praise. Yet his fifth for the label since 2014
Far From Over, featuring his dynamically commanding sextet and released on vinyl finds Iyer reaching a new peak. Furthering an artistry that led The Guardian to call Iyer "one of the world's most inventive new-generation jazz pianists" and The New Yorker to describe him as "extravagantly gifted
brilliantly eclectic.", Far From Over features this sextet of virtuoso improvisers with horn players Graham Haynes, Steve Lehman and Mark Shim alongside rhythm partners Stephan Crump and Tyshawn Sorey leveraging a wealth of jazz history even as it pushes boldly forward. The music ranges from the thrillingly explosive ("Down to the Wire," "Good on the Ground") to the cathartically elegiac ("For Amiri Baraka," "Threnody"), with melodic hooks, entrancing atmosphere, rhythmic muscle and an elemental spirit all part of the allure. "This group has a lot of fire in it, but also a lot of earth, because the tones are so deep, the timbres and textures," Iyer says. "There's also air and water
"Rambunctious, furiously funky.... (the sextet offers) the sort of head-bobbing drive and invention that has landed Iyer on multiple best-of lists over the years" — LA Times
Iyer reaches a new peak here. The album features virtuoso improvisers leveraging a wealth of jazz history even as it pushes boldly forward. The music ranges from the thrillingly explosive to the cathartically elegiac, with melodic hooks, entrancing atmosphere, rhythmic muscle and an elemental spirit all part of the allure.
Personnel: Vijay Iyer (piano, Fender Rhodes); Graham Haynes (cornet, flugelhorn, electronics); Steve Lehman (alto saxophone); Mark Shim (tenor saxophone); Stephan Crump (double-bass); Tyshawn Sorey (drums)
Side 1
Poles
Far From Over
Nope
Side 2
End Of The Tunnel
Down To The Wire
For Amiri Baraka
Into Action
Side 3
Wake
Good On The Ground
Threnody