Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily: Tiny Desk Concert

Nate Chinen | May 12, 2023
Around the midpoint of Arooj Aftab, pianist Vijay Iyer and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily's Tiny Desk concert as the trio Love in Exile, Aftab steeply intensifies her vocal outflow, generating a spirit of lift within the music. It's the cresting of a wave, in a sense, but no more inherently vital than the accumulating swell period, or the ensuing glide. For Aftab and her equal partners in the project, every musical offering arises from a slow-motion flutter of collective actions, which renders each passing moment unique.

That's a fanciful way of saying what the music invites you to understand at gut level: this group makes music strictly for the moment, creating a shared language in real time. As its members explained this spring, before the release of their entrancing self-titled debut, this highwire creative model is rooted in acute listening and mutual trust. Whatever the gesture — when Iyer plays a somber, strobing figure on Fender Rhodes piano, for example, or Ismaily wobbles a line on electric bass — it can be seen as an invitation. This performance, a marvel of concision by Love in Exile standards, extends a similar courtesy to any receptive ear.

SET LIST
"Eyes Of The Endless"

MUSICIANS
Vijay Iyer: Fender Rhodes, piano
Arooj Aftab: vocals
Shahzad Ismaily: bass, Moog

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Bob Boilen
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Maia Stern, Kara Frame, Sofia Seidel
Audio Assistant: Hannah Gluvna
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Joshua Bryant, Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer, Pilar Galván, Jill Britton
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

#nprmusic #tinydesk #vijayiyer #aroojaftab #shahzadismaily