Vijay Iyer
(piano, electronics), Miranda Cuckson (violin), Michi Wiancko (violin), Kyle
Armbrust (viola) & Kivie Cahn-Lipman (cello)
(Review by Russell).
Mutations is Vijay Iyer’s first recording as a leader for ECM. The
album comprises three pieces for piano and the suite Mutations 1-X scored for piano, electronics and strings. The New
Yorker’s jazz affiliations are known to those with an interest in the
contemporary American scene, collaborators include Roscoe Mitchell, William
Parker, Matana Roberts and John Zorn. Mutations
reveals another side to the pianist.
Composing for new music chamber
ensembles has led to commissions and performances by the Brentano String
Quartet, the American Composers Orchestra and others. Mutations was written and first performed in 2005 and it has taken
until now for the work to be documented by ECM. The ten part work is framed by
solo piano pieces; the first two - Spellbound
and Sacrosanct, Cowrie Shells and the
At the core of the CD is the Mutations suite. Iyer studied violin for
fifteen years and states: The sound of
the string quartet has been in my head for as long as I can remember. The
string players work to Iyer’s notated instructions, free to interpret sections,
to develop and mutate the work. Some
of the compositions were written on violin, some at the piano and some on
Iyer’s computer. Of the ten compositions it is difficult, if not impossible, to
decide which piece was composed on either instrument or device. At times the
instrumentation is such that the strings could be a laptop-generated sound,
similarly electronic interventions could be the strings.
Subtle manipulation of sound sources
infuse Iyer’s canvas; quiet, reflective, occasionally urgent, English pastoral,
expansive New World gestures. The album is by
no means a jazz recording but for those with open ears rich rewards await.
Vijay Iyer’s Mutations is
available now on ECM 376 4798.
Russell. 
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