Asian American Arts Alliance: Vijay Iyer Trio

Three-time Grammy nominee and MacArthur 'Genius', pianist Vijay Iyer brings his renowned jazz trio and special guests Arooj Aftab and Heems.

Described by The New York Times as a “social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, historical thinker and multicultural gateway,” composer-pianist Vijay Iyer has earned a place as one of the leading music-makers of his generation. His honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a United States Artist Fellowship, and the Alpert Award in the Arts. His newest album features his acclaimed trio with drummer Tyshawn Sorey and bassist Linda May Han Oh titled Compassion (ECM, 2024). His lush, expansive collaboration with Arooj Aftab and Shahzad Ismaily, Love in Exile (Verve, 2023), received two Grammy nominations and was named among the best albums of the year in Pitchfork and The New York Times. For this performance, Iyer will be joined by bassist Devon Gates and drummer Jeremy Dutton.

Arooj Aftab is a multi-award-winning singer, composer, and producer. Over the last few years, she has emerged as one of the most innovative artists of our time — her work mellifluously blends a wide array of genres, from jazz to minimalism to Pakistani semi-classical. In 2022, Aftab won a Grammy for Best Global Music Performance award for "Mohabbat," the first Pakistani artist to win a Grammy. In 2023, Aftab received another Grammy nomination for Best Global Music Performance, as well as collaborated with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily on the Grammy-nominated album Love in Exile. Aftab released her most recent album, the critically acclaimed Night Reign, earlier this year.

Rapper, visual artist, record label owner, and Punjabi-American from Queens, NY, Himanshu "Heems" Suri launched his solo career while still a member of his former group, Das Racist. The group's 2008 single "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" launched them into the limelight; they released multiple mixtapes and the official 2011 album, Relax, but broke up in 2013. After the split, Heems released the solo project Eat Pray Thug in 2015, and then took a hiatus from releasing music. In 2024, Heems returned with two new albums both released on his new label Veena Sounds, Lafandar and Veena, to rave reviews

The piano for this performance is provided with support by Steinway & Sons.
Additional media support for this performance is provided by WBGO.