Fisher Center
Vijay Iyer and Teju ColeBlind Spot
October 26, 2018
Fisher Center
October 26, 2018
“No one in jazz sounds like Iyer.” —Chicago Tribune
“One of the most vibrant voices in contemporary writing.” —Los Angeles Times on Teju Cole
Pioneering jazz composer and pianist Vijay Iyer and Nigerian American writer and photographer Teju Cole present a powerful new collaboration. With images and text from Cole’s newly released book of the same title alongside Iyer’s live score, Blind Spot investigates humanity’s blindness to tragedy and injustice throughout history.
In this innovative synthesis of words, music, and images, Cole leads us through a multimedia diary of years of near-constant travel: from a park in Berlin to a mountain range in Switzerland, a church exterior in Lagos to a house in Tivoli, NY; landscapes and interiors, beautiful or quotidian, that inspire Cole’s memories, fantasies, and introspections. Iyer at piano, with Patricia Brennan on vibraphone and Stephan Crump on bass, create the improvised music in real time, using as a score, in Cole’s words, “the images, the words I’m reading, and the pace at which I move to the next image, our collective presence and those of us on the stage and those of us in the audience.”
Featuring
Teju Cole, images and text
Vijay Iyer, piano
Patricia Brennan, mallets
Stephan Crump, bass
Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet
A book and album signing with the artists will follow the performance.