Accelerando cover

Accelerando

Released

This is recorded and played and mixed so that you hear  bassist Stphan Crump, drummer Marcus GIlmore, and pianist Vijay Iyer equally, all of them at the front of the mix. That means that the bass and drums are much louder than you get on a jazz piano trio album, and the lower frequencies are thick. Everything is also alive and sparkly without being chaotic or shouty—this isn’t exactly dinner music, though it is very friendly. The take on the Michael Jackson classic, “Human Nature,” is good enough to justify the whole expedition, which blends Ellington and Flying Lotus tunes into a stack of Iyer compositions. Long and meaty and great.

Sasha Frere-Jones

Recommended by

Suggestions
Mulatu Steps Ahead cover

Mulatu Steps Ahead

Mulatu Astatke
Flying Soul cover

Flying Soul

Aki Takase, La Planete Quartet
Tokyo Adagio cover

Tokyo Adagio

Charlie Haden, Gonzalo Rubalcaba
The Old Country (More From The Deer Head Inn) cover

The Old Country (More From The Deer Head Inn)

Gary Peacock, Keith Jarrett, Paul Motian
Visions cover

Visions

Melissa Aldana
Whirlpool cover

Whirlpool

John Taylor, Martin France, Palle Danielsson
We Are the Drum cover

We Are the Drum

Kendrick Scott Oracle
Memento Mori cover

Memento Mori

Barry Adamson