Maybe one of the warmest recordings we've ever heard from pianist Vijay Iyer – but that's maybe no surprise, as the session is graced with these sublime vocals from singer Arooj Aftab – and delivered in a style that's much more than standard jazz! Iyer plays Fender Rhodes and piano, and adds in a bit of electronics – while Shahzad Ismaily uses moog and a vintage Fender bass – all flowing effortlessly, while Aftab brings in these vocal moments that feel both ancient and yet have a sense of new global horizons too – recorded with just a touch of echo that might evoke vintage 4AD. Titles include "Sharabi", "Eyes Of The Endless", "Shadow Forces", "To Remain/To Return", and "Haseen Thi". (Global Grooves, Jazz) CD

Maybe one of the warmest recordings we've ever heard from pianist Vijay Iyer – but that's maybe no surprise, as the session is graced with these sublime vocals from singer Arooj Aftab – and delivered in a style that's much more than standard jazz! Iyer plays Fender Rhodes and piano, and adds in a bit of electronics – while Shahzad Ismaily uses moog and a vintage Fender bass – all flowing effortlessly, while Aftab brings in these vocal moments that feel both ancient and yet have a sense of new global horizons too – recorded with just a touch of echo that might evoke vintage 4AD. Titles include "Sharabi", "Eyes Of The Endless", "Shadow Forces", "To Remain/To Return", and "Haseen Thi". (Global Grooves, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Vijay Iyer on piano with Steve Lehman on alto saxophone and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. CD

A classic trio set – with Vijay Iyer on piano, Stephan Crump on bass, and Marcus Gilmore on drums! CD

Beautiful trio work from pianist Vijay Iyer – a record that's filled with the sorts of chunky rhythmic lines we love so much in his playing! The album's got Iyer working much more at a familiar level than his more electronic album for ECM – with that sort of warmth and joy that's really brought new life to the piano trio format through his recordings – the best of which we might put up there with our early favorites from Robert Glasper. The group features Stephan Crump on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums – and titles include "Blood Count", "Break Stuff", "Taking Flight", "Work", "Wrens", and "Mystery Woman". CD

Trio album with Vijay Iyer on piano, Stephen Crump on bass, and Marcus Gilmore on drums. Features a mix of originals and songs by Julius Hemphill, Andrew Hill, MIA, and Stevie Wonder. CD

Vijay Iyer on ECM – a great new setting for one of the most-discussed pianists in recent years – and a chance for him to offer up some even more creative sides of his talents! The record still features Vijay playing piano with some of those blocky tones and rhythmic pulses that we love from his other trio and solo recordings – but the album also features him on electronics, and working with a string quartet on one number too – all in ways that are looser and more abstract than some of his better-known records, and creates a bridge between his jazz work and some of the new music modes of ECM. Titles include "Vuln Part 2", "Spellbound & Sacrosanct Cowrie Shells & The Shimmering Sea", "Mutations I to X", and "When We're Gone". CD

Vijay Iyer on piano, Rudresh Mahanthappa on alto sax, Stephan Crump on bass, and Marcus Gilmore on drums. CD

Vijay Iyer on piano, Prasanna on guitar and vocals, and Nitin Mitta on tabla. CD

Vijay Iyer on piano – with Rudresh Mahanthappa on alto, Stephan Crump on bass, and Marcus Gilmore on drums. CD

Two of the more important pianists of recent years, performing here together in a set of live duets – most of which have a relatively improvised, relatively free approach – maybe even more than more familiar albums from either player! There's definitely a sense of ECM space in the recording, but that may well come from the album's recording in a larger hall at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest – which has both musicians' notes echoing out in open space nicely as they interact with each other. Titles include "Sensorium", "Kairos", "Shake Down", "Clear Monolith", "Luminous Brew", and "Life Line (Seven Tensions)". CD

Features Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet. CD

Open, expressive sounds from the team of Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and Vijay Iyer on piano, Fender Rhodes, and electronics – all served up in a mode that's quite different from recent records by either musician! The "rhythm" in the title here might be a bit misplaced – as the tunes have very little groove, and instead allow both Smith and Iyer to stretch out boldly in space – Leo on a mix of muted and fully-blown modes, Iyer maybe taking some of his previous ECM lines into even freer territory. The use of electric elements next to Smith's horn is especially nice – and titles include "Marian Anderson", "Passage", and the long title suite "A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke". CD

The music of pianist Vijay Iyer has always been pretty darn great – but it also seems to take on a warmer, more mature quality here in this trio with Linda May Han Oh on bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums – almost as if Iyer is bringing more feeling into the music, letting things flow naturally, putting aside some of the bolder signatures of his earliest recordings, while also getting past some of the more academic styles of other ECM albums too! The balance comes through right away – and Vijay's got this subtle quality nobody would have expected years before – definitely echoed by Sorey, and maybe encouraged a lot by Oh – who's also grown a lot as a musician too. Titles include "Compassion" – a great title for this set – plus "Tempest", "Overjoyed", "Maelstrom", "Ghostrumental", "It Goes", and "Nonaah". CD

The music of pianist Vijay Iyer has always been pretty darn great – but it also seems to take on a warmer, more mature quality here in this trio with Linda May Han Oh on bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums – almost as if Iyer is bringing more feeling into the music, letting things flow naturally, putting aside some of the bolder signatures of his earliest recordings, while also getting past some of the more academic styles of other ECM albums too! The balance comes through right away – and Vijay's got this subtle quality nobody would have expected years before – definitely echoed by Sorey, and maybe encouraged a lot by Oh – who's also grown a lot as a musician too. Titles include "Compassion" – a great title for this set – plus "Tempest", "Overjoyed", "Maelstrom", "Ghostrumental", "It Goes", and "Nonaah". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful trio work from Vijay Iyer – a set that's got his piano doing equal time with the drums of Tyshawn Sorey and bass of Linda May Han Oh – all at a level that reminds us why we first fell in love with Iyer's music many years back! The set's a return to the kind of records that really has Vijay reshaping the role of the trio in jazz – with every player rhythmic at once, but still also finding melodic moments together too – breaking down conventional structures, but never in a way that's free jazz either – just boldly, lyrically leaping towards the future! Titles include "Children Of Flint", "Touba", "Entrustment", "Configurations", "Uneasy", "Drummer's Song", and "Augury". LP, Vinyl record album

Pianist Vijay Iyer has left his own very strong mark on the world of jazz in the past decade or so – but here, he's in a completely different setting, and a surprisingly strong fit for the sort of spirit we're used to hearing from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith! The set also features drummer Jack DeJohnette – and there's a sense of dynamic interaction and sympathetic creativity that graces the entire album from the start – that special spirit that Smith always seems to bring to a recording, which really opens up Iyer on piano, Hammond, and Fender Rhodes – while DeJohnette explores the farther reaches of his spectrum as well. Titles include "Song For World Forgiveness", "Rocket", "Deep Time 1", and "The AD Opera" – a long piece dedicated to Anthony Davis. CD

With Steve Coleman on alto, Anthon Tidd on bass, Sean Rickman on drums, and Miguel 'Anga' Diaz on percussion – plus a long list of guest artists including Ravi Coltrane, Ralph Alessi, Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, and Stefon Harris. CD

With Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Vijay Iyer on keys, Miya Masaoka on koto, and vocals from Yassir Chadly. CD

Features Vijay Iyer on piano, Steve Lehman on alto and sopranino sax, and Elliot Humberto Kavee on drums. CD

Rudresh Mahanthappa on alto saxophone, Vijay Iyer on piano, Francois Moutin on acoustic bass, and Elliot Humberto Kavee on drums. CD

Kassa Overall continues to be one of those artists who's not only impossible to peg, but who's also maybe a genre unto himself – a jazz drummer at the core, but one who's not afraid to throw in vocals, bits of funk, hip hop lyrics, and other styles as well! With each new record, Overall seems to really be evolving his style – and here, he delivers music that's even more personal than before at a lyrical level, while opening the door for a range of guests who help flesh out the sound – a lineup that includes Danny Brown, Anthony Ware, J Hoard, Lil B, and Nick Hakim – plus jazz musicians Vijay Iyer and Theo Croker. Titles include "The Lava Is Calm", "No It Ain't", "Make My Way Back", "Clock Ticking", "So Happy", "It's Animals", "Maybe We Can Stay", and "The Score Was Made". (Neo Soul, Jazz) CD

Kassa Overall continues to be one of those artists who's not only impossible to peg, but who's also maybe a genre unto himself – a jazz drummer at the core, but one who's not afraid to throw in vocals, bits of funk, hip hop lyrics, and other styles as well! With each new record, Overall seems to really be evolving his style – and here, he delivers music that's even more personal than before at a lyrical level, while opening the door for a range of guests who help flesh out the sound – a lineup that includes Danny Brown, Anthony Ware, J Hoard, Lil B, and Nick Hakim – plus jazz musicians Vijay Iyer and Theo Croker. Titles include "The Lava Is Calm", "No It Ain't", "Make My Way Back", "Clock Ticking", "So Happy", "It's Animals", "Maybe We Can Stay", and "The Score Was Made". (Neo Soul, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a very heavy core – as Scotty Hard's not only adding bass to the set, but also plenty of beats and samples as well – all elements that are used mostly in a rhythmic way, to leave plenty of space for the slide trumpet of Steven Bernstein, saxes and guitar of Briggan Krauss, bass and guitar of Tony Scherr, and drums of Kenny Wollesen! Wollesen also adds in a bit of electric percussion, which moves nicely next to Hard's rhythms – while the horns and guitars cascade over the top in a great array of colors – colors that are also expanded by guest work from John Medeski on Hammond and mellotron, Vijay Iyer on piano, and DJ Olive on turntables and electronics. Titles include "Banacek", "Lawn Mower", "Fletcher Henderson", "Pepper Pot", "Hit The Dirt", and "Tapestral". Also features a bonus 12" – with tracks "Dominion" and "Club Pythagorean". LP, Vinyl record album

An evocative live performance from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith – etherel one minute, bombastic the next – and put together with as much sense of freedom and imagination as Smith's music from earlier years! The group is his Golden Quartet – a combo that features great drums from Shannon Jackson, keyboards by Vijay Iyer, and bass from John Lindberg – plus Smith's majestic trumpet lines, which are often muted on the record, but blown with a sense of presence that comes through beautifully. The recording's a live one, and all tracks are quite long – and the CD features 4 titles that include "Rosa Parks", "DeJohnette", "Caravan Of Winter", and "Tabligh". CD