Reimagining

I love these guys from their two most recent CDs, and I'm thrilled that Reimagining is as strong as both of them. Panoptic Modes and Blood Sutra introduced me to a "jazz" sound that I'd never heard before. So, with this release I am more familiar with the players, but also still surprised. The word "tapestry" keeps coming to mind; there is a weaving and interweaving, sometimes straight sometimes delightfully uneven. Vijay will come on and then drift away from the drums, and it's very moving when I really try to hear it all and take it all in. Another thing is the "orchestration" that they achieve. Vijay and Rudresh really get a unique sax/piano thing going, almost in unison, but then not.I've been talking of the "sound", but something else I find very special (and it may be my imagination here) is the honesty and awareness of mankind that comes across. Certainly, their "cover" of Imagine doesn't convey a naive optimism, and although "heavy" seems to ask "shouldn't we not give up". And on Experience, (my favorite) although a very short piece, you can sense immensity.This is a fabulous CD.

Not since John Coltrane's Quartet have I been as impressed with a group's volume of work consistently. "Reimagining" follows "Blood Sutra" on the Iyer Quartet timeline by adding Marcus Gilmore who is now part of the Vijay Iyer Trio with Stephan Crump on bass. Rudresh Mahanthappa is in prime form as always.This was actually the last of several of the group's quartet efforts that I heard, first with "Tragicomic," second "Blood Sutra," and later with "Panoptic Modes." Though the group has sounded incredible and dexterous on each album, I think this one has the breadth and depth to be called their "best recorded effort." The grooves and melodic content of each tune are distinct and bring the ear a real sort of new pleasure, despite sometimes being harmonically advanced and somewhat dissonant to a crowd who isn't used to jazz. In other words: this is just a great album. There is energy, power, excitement, elation, sadness: a full spectrum of emotional playing as well as intellectual headroom to give the quartet the kind of recognition it deserves.My favorites from the album are "Song for Midwood," featuring the grounding and always huge sound of Stephan Crump paired with Marcus Gilmore's modern and unique grooves. Mahanthappa and Iyer are in top form over this tune that sounds relaxed and gradually picks up in intensity. Another favorite is "Cardio," a sort of jagged odd-meter tune that the group still performs today as a trio. Iyer's interpretation of John Lennon's "Imagine" is melancholy and a wonderful reminder of his sensitivity as a pianist.The greatest feature of this record is that it plays from beginning to well extremely well. So put it on, relax, and enjoy some of the most advanced jazz to date.

Really pretty crumby stuff. Not at all impressed by the recording, playing, and selection. For the money, a disappointment.

Having made the leap to the majors, pianist and composer Vijay Iyer's Savoy debut "Reimagining" sounds no less intense than his previous independent releases than it does more fully realized. Where his previous quartet offerings, 2003's "Blood Sutra" and 2001's "Panoptic Modes" were youthful explorations full of brio, "Reimagining" inverts the equation by promoting tunefulness over unbridled enthusiasm. This recurrent focus on melody in all its bittersweet glory continues to arrive bolstered by an undercurrent of rhythmic turbulence.The son of Indian immigrants, like his long-term foil, altoist Rudresh Mahanthappa, Iyer has a truly equitable worldview in regards to the jazz canon and its influences. Abstracted break beats, funky ostinatos, splintery tone clusters, knotty angularity, even introspective melody all make their way into his systematic structures. Iyer employs one of the most tireless rhythm sections in contemporary jazz, capable of supporting harmonic counterpoint, modulating time signatures and layered polyrhythms all at once. Long term bassist Stephan Crump holds down the low end while 19 year old newcomer (and grandson of Roy Haynes) Marcus Gilmore more than holds his own in the company of giants. Altoist Rudresh Mahanthappa is a distinctive stylist with a most cerebral approach. Like the free-er cousin of former M-Basers Greg Osby and Steve Coleman, releasing waves of cyclical arpeggios with his searing white-hot tone, he is the perfect match for Iyer's own ecstatic excursions. Hammered left hand root notes and dissonant block chords intermingle with swirling right hand pyrotechnics. Industrious without being flamboyant, Iyer occasionally reveals a deft sense of touch, especially on his deconstructed, darkly minimalist solo interpretation of John Lennon's "Imagine."Iyer's seminal involvement with Steve Coleman's M-Base school of hyper rhythmic metric modulation and its structural dependence on polyrythms is still evident in his quartet writing. Iyer's M-Base roots come to the fore on the jaunty trio workout "Cardio" and the aggressive, show stopping quartet set piece, "Phalanx." But this time out, melody is given not only a nod, but precedent over angularity and odd time signatures. "Song For Midwood" utilizes a throbbing modal bass pulse that rides a steady vamp only to be occasionally interrupted by hyper-kinetic stints of double-timed improvisation. Mahanthappa's scorching, thematic variations and Iyer's kaleidoscopic keyboard runs drive the quartet into a frenzy of collective fury, without ever leaving the plaintive melody behind. This new found focus on song forms adds one more layer to the quartet's already heady brew. Some of Iyer's most emotionally resonant playing arrives in the few trio pieces, such as the spartan, melancholy "Inertia" and the upbeat, optimistic "Composites." "Experience" contains some of the quartet's most beautiful playing despite the rhythm's insistent forward momentum. Full of angular linearity and mind-numbing time shifts, "Revolutions" opens the album with a roiling, syncopated undertow that is so intricate it practically defies standard time signatures. The quartet's intricate level of interplay embodies a sense of adventurousness to it that is sorely missing in most contemporary acoustic jazz.While Iyer and his peers Jason Moran and Matthew Shipp have long been touted as the Second Coming for post-free-jazz pianists, they have all taken pains to mature their craft and in so doing creating a body of work that is thrilling on more than just a primal level. "Reimagining" officially announces Iyer has fully arrived as a player to be reckoned with.