Summary: (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/VijayIyer4.jpg)Vijay Iyer (http://www.vijay-iyer.com/) is a New York-based jazz musician and composer, and consistently won praise for his composition and music and is identified as one of the rising jazz artists in the USA. He grew up in upstate New York during the 1970s and 1980s. HIs parents migrated to the USA in the 1960s.Initially, he learned to play the violin and it was his sister who learned to play the piano. He was drawn to the piano and ended up taking learning how to play it. Like many Indian American teens Vijay did not think of purusing music as a career. He studied Math and Physics at Yale and went to UC Berkeley to pursue his PhD in physics. But, half-way through the course he changed his major and also made that all important decision to pursue music as his profession. While he was a student at UC Berkeley he released two albums. His first album Memorophilia that was released when he was just 23 years old. His second album Architextures was released in 2000. Upon completing PhD, Vijay relocated to New York to pursue his musical career. In 2004 Vijay signed a multi-album deal with Savoy Jazz (http://savoyjazz.com), who released his album Reimagining in May 2005. Earlier this year Vijay and his long time collaborator Rudresh Mahanthappa (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/2009/12/06/rudresh-mahanthappa-do-you-speak-indian/) released their first commercial album Raw Materials (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F8OIM8/104-0149027-7481547?n=5174) on Savoy Jazz. Vijay lives with his family in New York. In case you missed, you might want to listen to Part-2 (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/2006/08/09/jazz-musician-vijay-iyer-part-ii/) of the interview with Vijay and an interview (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/2006/05/29/in-conversation-with-vijay-iyer-and-rudresh-mahanthappa/) featuring both Vijay and Rudresh. This interview was recorded in 2006 in New York. Photo credit: Vijay Iyer's website.
