Stepping into Jazz: Historicity

I must confess that, despite my love and fascination with jazz music, I am not well versed in the artists or songs that jazz artists have performed over the years. I know some of the big artists in the genre: Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Vince Guaraldi, etc. But as far as listening to albums and my knowledge of the songs, I am very weak. I wish I had my friend Charlie’s knowledge on jazz; he was and is knowledgeable on a great many things related to jazz and had a great collection of records. The fortunate part for me in doing this little project is that I will get a chance to listen to some well received jazz music.

Historicity by the Vijay Iyer Trio is a recent entry into the Metacritic list, having been released in 2009. The trio consists of Vijay Iyer on piano, Stephan Crump on bass guitar, and Marque Gilmore on drums. All three musicians are very talented and versatile on their instruments. Historicity is a very interesting record in and of itself, so I am very pleased to provide uneducated remarks about the album.

#82 – Vijay Iyer Trio, Historicity (Metascore = 87)

I did some reading on Vijay Iyer himself, and he has a very impressive resume. First, he has a degree in mathematics and physics from Yale, and he was pursuing a PhD in physics at UC-Berkeley until this jazz career got in the way. He is classically trained to play the violin, but he learned piano by ear through experimenting with different songs he liked. He is a very accomplished composer and has published articles in numerous jazz publications.

Historicity is a fascinating record in that, while he has his own compositions on this record, he also explores compositions from different artists of different genres. For instance, “Somewhere” is a Bernstein/Sondheim composition most commonly remembered for being in the musical West Side Story. The Trio does an improvisational take on the classic, moving within different keys and beats while never really straying from the original tune. “Galang” is a jazz interpretation of rap/avant garde artist M.I.A. and bounces around much like the original track does. “Big Brother”, which was originally by Stevie Wonder, is presented in a way that is reminiscent of raga music. The mix of the original compositions with covered compositions mesh together very well and keep in line with the sound of the record.

Not being knowledgeable, I can’t tell you that something doesn’t feel right. One aspect of jazz, particularly since the release of Kind of Blue, is that the music tends towards improvisation, so while something might seem off-key, it could be intentional. There are not many moments in these songs where I felt bored or confused by the sound choices, but there were a couple. “Dogon A.D.” is not one of my favorite tunes, but it does have some interesting moments.

Overall, I was impressed by this record, particularly by the depth of sounds created by three musicians. Some people like jazz, and some people don’t. Jazz fans will enjoy the interaction between the players and the song choices. Non-jazz fans may find the record interesting but possibly tiring because of the improvisation. I still think the record is very accessible and a good listen.