Sunnyside presents Vijay’s long-awaited new quartet disc, his first since 2005’s universally acclaimed Reimagining. Featuring the same longstanding ensemble (Iyer, saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, bassist Stephan Crump, and drummer Marcus Gilmore), the album includes ten Iyer originals and two surprising covers: a rhythmically charged dub version of Bud Powell’s “Comin’ Up” and a solo rendition of the standard “I’m All Smiles.” Released April 22, 2008.

Voted among the BEST ALBUMS OF 2008 in the Village Voice, Chicago Reader, All About Jazz, Chicago Tribune, NPR, Jazzman, Jazz Journalists Association, and many others.

“**** (4 stars out of 4) …a near-certainty to be acclaimed as one of the best jazz discs of the year… starkly beautiful and powerful… one of the most powerful quartets in all of emergent jazz.” – Jeff Simon, Buffalo News

“a strikingly original pianistic voice… ‘Tragicomic’ is another stellar installment in his oeuvre… a marriage of intellect and power, of brains and brawn… This is highfalutin jazz, and it swings madly.” – Steve Greenlee, JazzTimes

“[P]ianist Vijay Iyer is on his way to becoming one of the major jazz voices of his generation… ‘Tragicomic’ is the most openhearted of Iyer’s instrumental albums and, perhaps not coincidentally, the most unabashedly emotional.” – Charles Farrell, emusic.com

“Iyer brings a visionary sensibility to his projects, always capturing the prevailing zeitgeist… A stunning achievement, ‘Tragicomic’ is one of the year’s best albums.” – Troy Collins, AllAboutJazz.com

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