Rabble Without A Cause
Wednesday February 1st, 2017 with Bernard Stepien
American pianist Vijay Iyer

With already 17 CDs produced over a 10 year period including the two last ones on ECM and winning critics polls by the dozens, American pianist Vijay Iyer is making a skyrocketing career. The culminating point may be his engagement by Harvard University in its music department. Tonight we will listen to his Historicity CD that Iyer defines as: “the starting-point of critical elaboration is the consciousness of what one really is, and is ‘knowing thyself’ as a product of the historical process to date which has deposited in you an infinity of traces, without leaving an inventory”. In the meantime, Vijay Iyer considers Thelonious Monk as his hero of all times. However, this also includes Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Juilius Hemphill but also pop music stars like Jimmy Hendrix. Of course, Vijay Iyer has appeared at the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival in 2011. More reading can be obtained from Peter Hum’s blog at: http://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/jazzblog/vijay-iyer-on-his-upcoming-musical-encounter-in-ottawa-with-l-subramaniam