Vijay Iyer Trio — Music Videos

The Vijay Iyer Trio is the piano, bass, and drums ensemble led by American pianist and composer Vijay Iyer. Its music places intricate rhythmic relationships beside a strong sense of physical pulse, allowing composed patterns and improvisation to affect one another continuously.

Break Stuff, released in 2015, features Iyer with bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore. “Starlings” is part of that album’s exploration of how short ideas can acquire different meanings through repetition, displacement, and changes of instrumental emphasis.

The trio’s sound is often best heard as three interacting lines rather than a piano solo with backing. Listen for the moments when the bass or drums seem to move the centre of gravity, and for the way an apparently complex passage still retains a clear collective momentum.