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Vijay Iyer was working on a Ph.D. in physics at UC Berkley when

he was sidetracked by jazz music. Luckily for jazz fans, he soon

decided perhaps science was not his future. � e New Yorker calls him

“One of today’s most important pianists… extravagantly gi� ed and

brilliantly eclectic,” while Minnesota Public Radio refers to him as “an

American treasure.”

� e Vijay Iyer Trio (his name is pronounced VID-jay EYE-yer)

makes its Center debut October 5 with two performances in Samueli

� eater. He will be accompanied by bassist Stephan Crump and

drummer Jeremy Dutton for what � e Guardian calls “contemporary

jazz multitasking.” Iyer’s music contains in� uences of African

drumming, South Indian classical music, contemporary European

composers and African American piano masters of the last century,

mining it to develop new rhythms and textures for the piano.

Iyer, a self-taught pianist, joined his high school’s jazz band,

where he discovered the work of � elonious Monk. At Yale, he failed

to get into the orchestra (he is a trained classical violin player), and,

eventually, while studying math and physics, he began playing and

improvising on a piano in the university dining hall. Eventually music

won out and he transferred to UC Berkley where he put together an

interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Technology and the Arts, focusing

on music cognition. He has concentrated on music, and jazz in

particular, ever since. In addition to his performing, Iyer is a senior

faculty member in the department of music at Harvard University as

the Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts.

� e awards have � ooded in for Iyer. He is a MacArthur “Genius”

Fellow and has countless titles from the DownBeat International Jazz

Critics polls, including last year’s Jazz Artist of the Year, awarded for

the third time this decade. He has received grants from the Rockefeller

Foundation, American Composers Forum, and Chamber Music

America, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and the German

ECHO Award, to name just a few. His albums top the jazz charts.

Very impressive, but let’s talk about his music. Rather than being

categorized, Iyer has evolved as a pianist, composer, conceptualist

and overall artist. He’s is considered one of the most vital young jazz

masters today, presenting ideas about how jazz can be reimagined.

� e Guardian calls it “cutting edge, but always accessible.” Iyer thinks

about his musical choices in real time as he’s playing. “What’s right

here where my hand is [on the piano keys] dictates the next step in

the notes,” he says. He told � e New Yorker that he makes “micro-

decisions,” each of which involves “a set of potentialities.”

His trio is distinguished by its seemingly e� ortless unity. As Iyer

plays, Crump and Dutton interact and respond in the moment, each

creating parts according to what they are hearing. It’s an intoxicating

style. Some of the music is melodic, and some is almost discordant,

but it is all intellectually stimulating and emotionally satisfying.

If you’re looking for the shape of jazz to come, look no farther than

this acclaimed trio, making its Center debut with these performances!

VIJAY IYER TRIOSAMUELI THEATERDate: October 5Tickets: $39 and up

Media Sponsor:KJazz 88.1 FM

For tickets and information visit SCFTA.org or call (714) 556-2787 Group services: (714) 755-0236