by Don Berryman
Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith, both composers and bandleaders, have long been strong voices in the creative music field. A decade ago they joined forces and recorded their acclaimed duo album A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke on ECM Records. Now they have come together again to release another duo album, Defiant Life, featuring haunting beautiful music with Vijay Iyer on piano and Fender Rhodes and Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet.
In the liner notes Vijay Iyer recalled that once when asked “what is an artist?” Wadada Leo Smith replied “an artist is someone who tells the truth without fear.” Speaking the truth is frequently an act of defiance.
The music on Defiant Life emerged from a collaborative recording session that Vijay Iyer says “was conditioned by our ongoing sorrow and outrage over the past year’s cruelties, but also by our faith in human possibility.” For another ECM album released earlier this month, After The Last Sky by Anuoar Brahem, (read my review here), Brahem wrote the song “Remembering Hind” in memory of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab who was killed in the Gaza Strip. On Defiant Life Vijay Iyer’s song “Kite” was written for Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer who was also killed in Gaza last year. “Floating River Requiem for Patrice Lumumba” was written by Wadada Leo Smith for Lumumba who was the leader who brought about Congolese independence from Belgium and was the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo until he was assassinated by the C.I.A. in 1961*.
The music
In the liner notes Vijay Iyer says “It’s a special, unparalleled journey we’ve been on for multiple decades now. I’m always struck by how our music simply appears. … it just unfolds… which is different! I don’t have many experiences like that.” In Defiant Life what appeared and unfolded between these two visionary musicians is a musical dialogue. With Vijay on Fender Rhodes it reminds me of a stripped down version of Miles Davis’ In A Silent Way without superfluous ornamentation but rather with space for a more poignant and deliberate statement.
In the opening track called “Prelude – Survival”, we hear a soft but percussive pulse from Wadada on trumpet then an ominous rumble of the lowest strings on the piano that continues throughout with the trumpet plaintively playing over it.
The song “Sumud” also has a drone that is high-pitched and sustained with vibrato. The trumpet comes in with more boldness. Iyer dances over the keys of the Fender Rhodes piano sounding like bells with more low rumbling tones underneath. It is a haunting minimalist approach and it builds tension and intensity throughout the song. The feeling is dark but somehow hopeful. The word Sumud means “steadfast perseverance” and is a Palestinian cultural value.
“Floating River Requiem for Patrice Lumumba” begins with a percussive solo piano intro. The trumpet then enters in dialogue with the piano.
“Elegy – The Pilgrimage” is one of the most ethereal and somber songs on the album. It begins with a mournful trumpet solo joined by a soft electronic drone with loops. Then the piano plays over the drone with the trumpet answering softly.
“Kite” features Vijay Iyer on the Fender Rhodes digging deep into the bass tones it can produce along with the vibraphone-like higher notes. Wadada Leo Smith provides a big tone on trumpet.
The closing “Procession – Defiant Life” begins slowly but has a rhythm that evokes a forward momentum. It is a fitting and satisfying conclusion.
Upcoming Defiant Life Performances by Vijay Iyer with Wadada Leo Smith
- March 21 – NYC, NY – MOMA
- March 29 – Knoxville, TN – Big Ears Festival
- June 9 – Moers, Germany – Moers Festival
- June 27 – Chicago, IL – Constellation
- June 28 – Montreal – Montreal International Jazz Festival
- October 29 – Esslingen, Germany – Esslingen Jazz Festival
- October 31 – London, UK – Wigmore
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* I highly recommend the film Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, a 2024 documentary film directed by Johan Grimonprez about the Cold War episode that led American musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.
See the original JazzPolice article here: http://jazzpolice.com/archives/17000
