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
Palm cover

Palm

Kukangendai
Iklectik cover

Iklectik

Philip Jeck
Invisible Baby cover

Invisible Baby

Marco Benevento
Animism cover

Animism

Tanya Tagaq
The Third Decade cover

The Third Decade

Art Ensemble of Chicago
Live in Marciac cover

Live in Marciac

Brad Mehldau
Live in the World cover

Live in the World

The David S. Ware Quartets
Passing Images cover

Passing Images

Frode Haltli
I Am a Man cover

I Am a Man

Jason Moran, Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan, Ron Miles, Brian Blade
Palimpseste cover

Palimpseste

Eric Watson, Joëlle Léandre