# Vijay Iyer: I hope this finds you well, despite our tumultuous times

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2017/09/24/vijay-iyer-hope-finds-well-despite-tumultuous-times/
- Published: 2017-09-24T23:28:25+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Dear friends, I hope this finds you well, despite our tumultuous times. I’m proud
to announce the release of FAR FROM OVER, our new sextet album on ECM Records, featuring
some of my favorite musicians.**

Vijay Iyer Sextet: Far From Over (ECM Records, 2017)If you’re looking for the shape
of jazz to come, here it is…the sturdiness of its design and the passion of its 
execution make [Far From Over]2017’s jazz album to beat.”- Hank Shteamer, Rolling
Stone

**featuring: **

**Graham Haynes, cornet, flugelhorn & electronics **

**Steve Lehman, alto saxophone **

**Mark Shim, tenor saxophone **

**Vijay Iyer, piano, **

**Fender Rhodes, and compositions **

**Stephan Crump, bass **

**Tyshawn Sorey, drums**

Iyer’s most potent band yet”- Seth Colter Walls, Pitchfork

(5 STARS) As a contemporary jazz set, Far from Over has just about everything.” –
John Fordham, The Guardian

“Rambunctious, furiously funky…. [Iyer’s sextet offers] the sort of head-bobbing
drive and invention that has landed Iyer on multiple best-of lists over the years”–
Chris Barton, Los Angeles Times

“a fierce, pulsing collection of music”- Phil Freeman, Stereogum

“Far From Over is ambitious, varied, and thrilling.”- Will Layman, PopMatters

“Far From Over propagates revolutionary sound waves with the visceral earnestness
that has been always associated with the pianist’s work along all these years.” –
Filipe Freitas, JazzTrail

“What Iyer does here, applying his compositional savvy to a standard combo lineup,
is like the challenge some writers of academic prose take on, to express complex
ideas in familiar language so even non-experts can follow along.”- Kevin Whitehead,
NPR Fresh Air

“Vijay Iyer’s kinetic, convergent musical vision has found expression in almost 
every conceivable ensemble format, from solo piano to chamber orchestra. But there’s
something special, even singular, about the dynamism of his sextet, and its debut
album, Far From Over”- Nate Chinen, WBGO

“Iyer’s mastery of making melody, harmony and rhythmic work together like a finely
tuned machine.”- Victor Aaron, SomethingElse Reviews”

(5 STARS) Spanning electronica and elegy, this is tough music for hard times.” –
Jim Macnie, DownBeat Magazine

“Modern jazz in peak form… Navigating strong emotions with as much sensation as 
reason, this music makes close listening cathartic.”- Michelle Mercer, DownBeat 
Magazine

Vijay Iyer Sextet: Far From Over (ECM Records, 2017) Upcoming sextet performances:

October 13 Wigmore Hall, London

October 14 Stockholm Jazz Festival

October 15 Enjoy Jazz, Mannheim, Germany

October 20 BRIC JazzFest Marathon, Brooklyn, NY

in 2018: January 9-13 Birdland, NYC

January 20 SFJazz, San Francisco, CA (part of our 4-night residency, Jan 18-21)

April 27 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CAmany more to come!

This October I’m honored to have my new composition,ASUNDER, premiered by the venerable
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In a program titled “From Piano to Pen,” this piece will
be presented alongside Mozart’s Piano Concerto #9 (featuring André Watts) and Beethoven’s
1st Symphony.

Orpheus and Mr. Watts will perform this program (sans conductor, which is how they
roll!) on October 12 in Lincoln, NE, October 14 in Danville, KY, October 15 in West
Lafayette, IN, October 22 at New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and a special Carnegie
Hall concert on my birthday, October 26. I’ll be around for the last two, and I 
look forward to seeing you there.

Last June I served as Music Director/curator for the Ojai Festival, where another
new composition of mine, TROUBLEfor violin and chamber orchestra, was premiered 
by the amazing violinist Jennifer Koh and my good friends in International Contemporary
Ensemble. If you are interested, check out this brief clip of us workshopping the
piece with Oberlin students last April, or watch the piece’s world premiere performance
at Ojai.

That program also featured my 2016 composition EMERGENCE, for trio plus chamber 
orchestra, and a duo set with the great Wadada Leo Smith. Check out many other stellar
performances and conversations from the Ojai Festival on their comprehensive YouTube
channel.

Next weekend a number of NYC musicians will be performing at the Jazz Gallery to
raise money for hurricane relief in Houston. You can also donate to relief efforts
for Puerto Rico here.

Thanks for reading. Please keep standing up (or taking a knee) for justice for all.
The struggle is far from over.

Peace & respect-

**Vijay Iyer **

**p.s.: I apologize if you have received this message in error. If you do not wish
to receive these occasional emails, you can either click the unsubscribe link below,
or just let me know by replying to this message. **


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