Vijay Iyer

One of the most celebrated jazz musicians of his generation, Vijay Iyer is a composer, pianist, electronic musician, professor, and software developer. He has led combos including Spirit Complex, the Poisonous Prophets, and the Vijay Iyer Trio, who all appeared on Memorophilia (1995), his debut album. He's also recorded solo. Blood Sutra (2003) was hailed for its fusion of Indian Carnatic styles, post-bop, and modal jazz; Historicity (2009) was nominated for a Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Album. Iyer won a Doris Duke Performing Artist Fellowship and was named a MacArthur Fellow before his boundary-breaking trio outing Break Stuff (2015) earned international acclaim. The duo date Transitory Poems arrived in 2019, followed by the trio album Uneasy in 2021. He collaborated with vocalist Arooj Aftab and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily on 2023's experimental Love in Exile, then returned with Compassion in 2024, accompanied by Linda May Han Oh and Tyshawn Sorey.