Arooj Aftab
Arooj Aftab (; born March 11, 1985) is a Pakistani singer, composer, and producer based in the United States. She works in various musical styles and idioms, including jazz, minimalism, and neo-Sufi.
Aftab was nominated for the Grammy Award fo ...
, Indian-American pianist
Vijay Iyer
Vijay Iyer (born October 26, 1971) is an American composer, pianist, bandleader, producer and writer based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' has called him a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, histori ...
, and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, released on March 24, 2023, by
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, ...
. It is the trio's first album together, recorded in a studio in New York. It was received positively by critics. At the
66th Annual Grammy Awards
The 66th Annual Grammy Awards are an upcoming music awards ceremony which recognizes the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year (from October 1, 2022 to September 15, 2023) as determined by the members of National Acad ...
Aftab, Iyer, and Ismaily first performed live together in New York in 2018, a performance in which ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
''s
Philip Sherburne
Philip Sherburne is an American journalist, musician and DJ based in Barcelona. He coined the term "Microhouse" (in a 2001 article for ''The Wire'')Cox, Christoph; Daniel Warner (Eds.) (2004). ''Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music''. Continuu ...
said it "became unclear who was leading whom, or even where one musician ended and the next began". The trio came together in a studio in New York to record their first album together. They recorded live, taking the same positions as that live performance: Aftab singing in
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
, and Ismaily playing
electric bass
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck
The ...
and
Moog synthesizer
The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...
.
Release
On February 23, 2023, the trio announced the album and released its lead single, "To Remain/To Return". Iyer described the song as "reveal ngnot just the melody but the birth of a song. I hear Shahzad and myself establishing these haunted cycles, then slowly and delicately transforming them, as Arooj glides across like a dark moon." Sherburne called the track "a small miracle of telepathy occurring across nine spellbinding minutes."
The album was released on March 24, 2023, by
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, ...
.
Reception
''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' called the album the best new music of the week.
Awards and nominations
Year-end lists
Track listing
Personnel
*
Arooj Aftab
Arooj Aftab (; born March 11, 1985) is a Pakistani singer, composer, and producer based in the United States. She works in various musical styles and idioms, including jazz, minimalism, and neo-Sufi.
Aftab was nominated for the Grammy Award fo ...
– producer, arranger, vocals
*
Vijay Iyer
Vijay Iyer (born October 26, 1971) is an American composer, pianist, bandleader, producer and writer based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' has called him a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, histori ...
– producer, arranger, piano (1, 3, 4, 6, 7),
Rhodes piano
The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...
electric bass
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck
The ...
,
Moog synthesizer
The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...
Matt Colton
Matt Colton (born 30 March 1975) is an English mastering engineer and member of the mastering group of the Music Producers Guild. He has mastered recordings for artists such as Muse, Coldplay, James Blake, George Michael, Hot Chip, Gary Num ...