''Memorophilia'' is the debut studio album by American jazz 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 ...

, which was recorded in 1995 and released on the Asian Improv label.

Background

The album features a solo piano piece and three different ensembles: the Vijay Iyer Trio (

M-Base The term "M-Base" is used in several ways. In the 1980s, a loose collective of young African American musicians including Steve Coleman, Graham Haynes, Cassandra Wilson, Geri Allen, Robin Eubanks, and Greg Osby emerged in Brooklyn with a new sou ...

saxophonist Steve Coleman joins the trio on two tracks), the electric funk quartet Poisonous Prophets, and the improvising quintet Spirit Complex, with AACM trombonist

George Lewis George Lewis may refer to: Entertainment and art * George B. W. Lewis (1818–1906), circus rider and theatre manager in Australia * George E. Lewis (born 1952), American composer and free jazz trombonist * George J. Lewis (1903–1995), Mexica ...

and Asian Improv instigator

Francis Wong Francis Wong () is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, and ''erhu'' player. Wong is of Chinese descent; his father is from Shanghai and his mother is Cantonese. He specializes in the fusion of free jazz and Asian musics, and is a central membe ...

Reception

In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, David R. Adler states "His cerebral compositional approach and advanced playing style unite all the disparate streams that the album has to offer."

Track listing

:''All compositions by Vijay Iyer'' # "Relativist's Waltz" – 6:13 # "Stars Over Mars" – 9:07 # "Spellbound and Sacrosanct, Cowrie Shells and the Shimmering Sea" – 7:03 # "March & Epilogue" – 8:15 # "Peripatetics" – 7:51 # "Algebra" – 7:51 # "Off the Top" – 7:10 # "Memorophilia" – 7:57 # "Segment for Sentiment #2" – 6:09

Personnel

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

* Jeff Brock – bass on 1, 2, 3, 7 & 8 *Brad Hargreaves – drums on 1, 2, 3, 7 & 8 * Steve Coleman –

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B ten ...

on 1 & 7 *

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

on 4 & 9 *

–

tenor sax The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the Alto saxophone, alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key ...

on 4 & 9 *Kash Killion –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

on 4 & 9 *Elliot Humberto Kavee – drums on 4, 5 & 9 * Liberty Ellman –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

on 5 *Jeff Bilmes –

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 and s ...

on 5

References

{{Authority control 1995 albums Vijay Iyer albums