Vijay Iyer Quartet Explores the Jazz Landscape

A recent Iyer Quartet performance is reviewed.

The Vijay Iyer Quartet trafficks in a surging, complex, mutant strain of post-bop, steeped in portent and incident. Led by Mr. Iyer, a relentlessly probing pianist, the group relies equally on the exertions of the alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, the bassist Stephan Crump and the drummer Marcus Gilmore. It doesn’t sound like any other band on the jazz landscape, as it confirmed at the Jazz Standard on Friday night.