Indians may have heard a lot about Grammy-nominated jazz musician Vijay Iyer in recent months…and soon they may be able to hear a lot more of his music. His German record company ACT Music + Vision is in talks to license Iyer’s latest albums Historicity and Solo to Times Music. This would be the first release of the Indian American pianist and composer’s albums in India. A similar deal is expected for his next album Tirtha, which will be rolled out in Europe and the US in the weeks following this year’s Grammy Awards on February 13.
Historicity by the Vijay Iyer Trio is a contender this year for a 2010 Grammy in the Best Instrumental Jazz Album category. The nomination capped a surge of acclaim and recognition for Iyer as a dazzling jazz talent in recent months. The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio, among others, raved about Historicity and voted it the best jazz album of 2009, the year of its release.
All the buzz of the past few months has already opened doors to several exciting collaborations for Iyer, including a composition that he is working on for famed cellist Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. It has also meant more performances, both solo and with his own ensembles. “I was touring a lot in 2010. I’m touring a lot more in 2011,” said Iyer in an interview at his apartment in New York.
And there’s new momentum to his career. “I think the Grammy nomination is very helpful,” said Iyer’s manager Steve Cohen. “Certainly the effects take a little longer to materialise as things in the jazz world, like the classical world, are planned further in advance than in rock or pop.”
Iyer, who was born in 1971 in upstate New York, actually started out learning to play the violin in the Western classical style when he was just three. He began to play the piano by ear and was introduced to jazz through his high school jazz ensemble.
Iyer was initially drawn to jazz as a “fun activity” during his school years. “That’s kind of how I got into it, not so much because I was becoming a fan of the music as a listener but more because as a player it was really engaging. And it was through playing it that I came around to listening to it and discovering it more and more.”
Despite a growing interest in jazz, Iyer was all set for a career in science. He studied physics and mathematics in college and was working towards a PhD in physics at the University of California in Berkeley. But his nights were spent having “exciting adventures as a musician”, playing jazz professionally in Oakland and San Francisco.
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Iyer only decided to take the plunge into a career in music when he was 23, a late career switch according to him. It was not an easy decision. “It’s a very arduous path,” he says. “It’s not something that you can step right into. It takes a lot of work, a lot of luck and a lot of patience. So I’ve been fortunate to have it all come together.”
He still keeps “one toe” in academia and science, occasionally publishing papers and giving lectures. But Iyer sees math in his music as well, particularly the Carnatic music that played in his Indian Tamil parents’ home, and the Indian music form that appeals to him the most. “A lot of my own compositions draw from elements of Indian music, particularly in the rhythmic dimension,” he says.
In fact, his next album Tirtha is a collaborative effort with two other Indian musicians – the Carnatic guitarist Prasanna and tabla player Nitin Mitta, who make up a trio by the same name as the album. “Perhaps that will be the most overt statement from me about the creative connection with India,” Iyer offers, but also emphasises that the album is a very modern project that has incorporated eclectic influences from around the world, and won’t try too hard to sound Indian.
Iyer is also a fan of Indian film music, particularly the scores of A R Rahman and Ilayaraja. “In a way it’s the most cutting edge music there is today,” says Iyer about film music. “It’s really connected to the rest of the world and it’s still defiantly Indian.”
At the Grammy awards, Iyer’s category will be part of the pre-televised ceremony, similar to the category featuring this year’s other Indian American nominee, Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon. Iyer has a packed schedule on February 13, flying into Los Angeles from Detroit just a couple of hours before the advance ceremony. Right after the main ceremony, he will double back to the airport to fly to Brussels. Iyer likes listening to contemporary hip hop and names M.I.A as one of the artists he would have liked to meet at the Grammys, but knowing he will have to leave the after-parties to his band mates, Iyer is focusing instead on “finding something nice to wear, maybe representing India”.
So, could Iyer, who has previously performed at a Jazz Yatra, follow his albums to India any time soon? “I haven’t been in a long time. I’m hoping to get an opportunity to perform there,” says Iyer. “The visit is long overdue.”