Vijay Iyer Trio Announces Return To Village Vanguard January 28-February 2, 2025

October 4, 2024 -- Vijay Iyer Trio has announced their return to the Village Vanguard in Manhattan, for a run of performances from January 28 to February 2, 2025. The trio, featuring Vijay Iyer on piano, Linda May Han Oh on bass, and Tyshawn Sorey on drums, will perform selections from their latest album Compassion, released earlier this year on ECM.      

Compassion has been widely celebrated, with raves from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Pitchfork and beyond. It has been featured on a number of Best Of Albums (So Far) lists, including the Washington Post (#1), Boston Globe, and #1 on the ArtsFuse Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll. Iyer is also included several times throughout DownBeat’s 2024 Critics Poll, including Jazz Album of the Year (Compassion, #4), Artist of the Year, Jazz Group (Vijay Iyer Trio), Piano and Composer. 

Watch this video for more Compassion highlights here: https://youtu.be/fcI-fgyS5PI?si=je2riqhj2m1js1V0    

Iyer - described as “one of the best in the world at what he does” by Pitchfork - has been busy as a collaborator, featured on new albums from Heems, Arooj Aftab and Moor Mother. A new album from Boston Modern Orchestra Project performing his original compositions was released in June, followed by three world premiere performances of his works in August and September; Yale University's Musical Bridges Project commission performed by the Norfolk Chamber Ensemble, an NEA-commissioned duo with Graham Haynes and seven compositions performed by The Manchester Collective at Wigmore Hall garnering a five-star review in the London Times. Last year his project with Aftab and Shahzad Ismaily - Love In Exile - earned two GRAMMY nominations, appeared on several Best of 2023 Albums lists, and earned a Pitchfork Best New Music designation.    

Today a new piece of music from Ganavya’s forthcoming album has been released, which features Iyer at the piano. Listen to “Om Supreme” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuaMKjHh1Kc

Iyer has been busy on an ongoing international tour with his trio and in other duo and solo configurations, including a free concert in NYC’s Bryant Park for over 4000 people. Upcoming appearances include at SF Jazz Festival November 1 and 2 with May Han Oh and Sorey, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with Jennifer Koh on November 16. See below for his full itinerary.  

Listen to Compassion selections here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGDFvxZCIHo - video for the title track

https://youtu.be/L07kH7FRTWw?si=8CrYuity2eKunVOV - “Tempest”

Praise for Compassion

“It’s as if this band wants to both seduce you and discomfit you, stripping you of everything but the ability to think and see for yourself.” - NY Times

“It’s a sound that isn’t trying to impress you so much as involve you…a highlight on the acclaimed pianist’s path in and out of jazz.” - Washington Post 

“[Compassion] revels in dynamics that are calibrated with great care and, at times, achieve startling force.” - Wall Street Journal

“It moves with unity and hits with a precise, joyous intensity.” - Boston Globe, 20 Best Albums of 2024 (So Far)

"Irresistibly listenable, an immersive 66 minutes that exhales a particular aesthetic history even as it pulls on the pain and anxiety of our present." - Pitchfork

“This exquisite album quietly ups the ante on 21st-century modern jazz piano trio excursions.” - Downbeat

“Vijay Iyer Trio forges telepathic connections on Compassion.” - WNYC Soundcheck

"[The Trio] bring a fresh, intensely interactive, seemingly time-elasticizing approach to the jazz piano trio that is at once bracingly kinetic, intimate, and lyrical.” - All Music

"Easily one of the most notable contemporary pianists working today, [Iyer] continues to forge a distinct style and expression of sound." - Spectrum Culture

"[The title track] is a revelatory preview of the full album—and may well be the most peaceful five minutes of your day.” - Aquarium Drunkard

“A masterful work that overflows with beauty, feeling, warmth and sensitivity. Like so much great art, Compassion mirrors the best of the human spirit and elevates that spirit.” - Forbes

“Compassion reveals one of today’s most fully rounded piano trios on their second foray, transportive music of the highest caliber…[Compassion] hits with power, sensitivity and intensity” - Glide Magazine

"Having toured together since releasing Uneasy, the trio’s chemistry is even stronger on Compassion, and they continue to convey so much through these instrumentals. Vijay’s piano playing in particular is dripping with emotion." - Brooklyn Vegan

"The visionary musician [Iyer] leads an ensemble that formulates an exquisite redefinition of jazz's well-established instrumental concept of the piano trio." - All About Jazz

“With stellar compositions, performances, and energy, Compassion contains some of his most immediately enjoyable music without sacrificing any of his usual complexity.” - PopMatters

“Everything Iyer does is grounded on a foundation of considered thought and intention…Iyer and company certainly aren’t lacking in inspiration. And this album, on which there’s not a weak moment to be found, will doubtlessly prove inspiring to others.” - Jazziz

TOUR DATES: 

2024

October 4 – Angra Portugal - Angra Jazz Festival - Trio w/ Nick Dunston & Jeremy Dutton

October 6 – Neuburg, Germany – Birdland Jazz Club - Trio w/ Linda May Han Oh, Jeremy Dutton

October 7 – Mannheim, Germany - Enjoy Jazz - Trio w/ Linda May Han Oh, Jeremy Dutton

October 9 – Milan, Blue Note - Trio w/ Linda May Han Oh, Jeremy Dutton

October 10 – Seixal/Lisbon – Seixal Jazz Festival - Trio w/ Linda May Han Oh, Jeremy Dutton

October 12 – Oslo - Nasjonal Jazzscene Victoria - Trio w/ Linda May Han Oh, Jeremy Dutton

October 13 – Stockholm – Fasching - Trio w/ Linda May Han Oh, Jeremy Dutton

October 26 – Los Angeles – The Broad - Archive of Desire with Robin Coste Lewis, Julie Mehretu & Jeffrey Ziegler 

October 31 – Seattle, WA – Earshot Jazz Festival – Trio with Linda May Han Oh and Jeremy Dutton

November 1 – Eugene, OR – The Shedd / Jacqua Concert Hall – Vijay Iyer Solo

November 2 – 3 – San Francisco – SF Jazz - Trio with Linda May Han Oh and Tyshawn Sorey

November 16 – Washington, DC – Sounds of US / To Be - Kennedy Center with Jennifer Koh

November 24 – Rockport, MA – Shalin Liu Performance Center - Trio with Linda May Han Oh, Jeremy Dutton

2025

Jan 10 –New York City – Winter Jazzfest /Performance Space New York – duo with Wadada Leo Smith

Jan 11 – New York City (Brooklyn) – Winter Jazzfest /Williamsburg Music Hall – Vijay Iyer Trio + 1 with Tyshawn Sorey, Matt Brewer + Adam O’Farrill

Jan 12 – Columbia, MD – Candlelight Concert Society - duo with Jennifer Koh

Jan 28 – Feb 2 – New York City – The Village Vanguard – Trio with Tyshawn Sorey & Linda May Han Oh

Mar 1 – Houston, TX – DaCamera - Trio with Tyshawn Sorey & Linda May Han Oh

Mar 13-14 – Washington, DC – Blues Alley - Trio with Jeremy Dutton & Harish Raghavan

Mar 27-30 (performance dates TBC) – Big Ears Festival – 

• duo with Wadada Leo Smith
• Fieldwork with Tyshawn Sorey & Steve Lehman

*listings in bold are not The Vijay Iyer Trio