Vijay Iyer Trio w/ Ambrose Akinmusire & Mark Shim
Pianist and composer Vijay Iyer’s longstanding trio with bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore has been his most acclaimed and elastic ensemble project for over a decade, winning Group of the Year honors in DownBeat’s 2012 Critics Poll as well as an Album of the Year nod for their ACT album Accelerando. In reviewing their latest ECM release, Break Stuff, The New York Times said, “(A) superlative album, Break Stuff that confirms Iyer’s stature in jazz’s contemporary vanguard, along with the dynamic excellence of his working trio.” For this date the trio, with the masterful drumming of Tyshawn Sorey in place of Gilmore, is joined by Oakland-born trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and tenor saxophonist Mark Shim – a pair of exploratory instrumentalists working on the cutting edge of modern jazz. Sorey made his recorded debut on Iyer’s 2003 album Blood Sutra, and has become a highly regarded multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Akinmusire is arguably the brightest light in modern jazz trumpet, winning the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and releasing a pair of Blue Note albums that have received Best of Year honors from innumerable publications. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Shim has a résumé that boasts work with Elvin Jones, Betty Carter, and the Mingus Big Band as well as a three forward-looking releases on Blue Note. Most recently, Shim has been working with Iyer collaborator Steve Lehman and maverick composer Henry Threadgill.
Cost: $40-$95