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Mowing Down Bar Lines in Virtuosic Banter

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Vijay Iyers trio lights up through improvised, viruslike rhythms. Its not a situation in which the drummers steady swing underpins whatever the pianist is doing; that did happen sometimes at the Jazz Standard on Friday, but it wasnt where the action was.

What you look forward to with this bright, aggressive group is when pianist and drummer lock into the same gestures, building a simultaneous, virtuosic, percussive improvisation. The drummer follows the pianist, the pianist follows the drummer, down long, chattering rhythmic chutes. It stretches harmony and mows down bar lines, until Mr. Iyer plays a cue and the music changes. Someones got to be the Holy Spirit, representing your faith that this jazz will breathe, and not just become a bramble of polytonality in a drum clinic. Its the bassist, of course, cutting through with big, wise, rounded notes.

Really good piano trios are studies in balance, and with the release of his new album, Historicity, his first piano-trio record, Mr. Iyer gives us a new one. The trio on Friday consisted of Mr. Iyer on piano, Stephan Crump on bass and Justin Brown substituting for Marcus Gilmore on drums. The band members were tired, having played at the Berlin Jazz Festival the night before, and though the two drummers styles are close, the group doesnt have the same magic fluidity without Mr. Gilmore. But it was still impressive, and made good sense in jazzs larger perspective.

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