Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily: Love in Exile

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Virtuoso pianist Vijay Iyer, Grammy-winner Arooj Aftab and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily are three U.S. based South Asian artists forging a singular voice that draws upon their musical backgrounds to create a lush and haunting soundscape of meditation and yearning. Rolling Stone calls their just-released album "like nothing else out there."

After their 2018 debut show in their adopted hometown of New York City, Ismaily asked Iyer and Aftab to huddle together and reflect on what had just occurred. "We felt it from the first moment," remembers Iyer. "We were mystified and almost silent and said: I don't know what just happened. But we should do that again." They hadn't prepared material in advance; the potent chemistry surprised even these seasoned collaborators. A shared focus on collective real-time creation allowed them to weave the bass, piano, and vocals into a breathtakingly unified sound. This was music in the moment. Words couldn't define it, but the audience felt it, and joined the emotional journey. Staying open to spontaneous co-creation became the band's defining approach in the half-dozen shows they played before recording their debut album.

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