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Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily: Tiny Desk Concert

Arooj Aftab performs at the Tiny Desk at NPR in Washington, DC on April 14, 2023.
Catie Dull
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Arooj Aftab performs at the Tiny Desk at NPR in Washington, DC on April 14, 2023.

Around the midpoint of Arooj Aftab, pianist Vijay Iyer and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily's Tiny Desk concert as the trio Love in Exile, Aftab steeply intensifies her vocal outflow, generating a spirit of lift within the music. It's the cresting of a wave, in a sense, but no more inherently vital than the accumulating swell period, or the ensuing glide. For Aftab and her equal partners in the project, every musical offering arises from a slow-motion flutter of collective actions, which renders each passing moment unique.


That's a fanciful way of saying what the music invites you to understand at gut level: this group makes music strictly for the moment, creating a shared language in real time. As its members explained this spring, before the release of their entrancing self-titled debut, this highwire creative model is rooted in acute listening and mutual trust. Whatever the gesture — when Iyer plays a somber, strobing figure on Fender Rhodes piano, for example, or Ismaily wobbles a line on electric bass — it can be seen as an invitation. This performance, a marvel of concision by Love in Exile standards, extends a similar courtesy to any receptive ear.

SET LIST

  1. "Eyes Of The Endless"


MUSICIANS

  1. Vijay Iyer: Fender Rhodes, piano

  1. Arooj Aftab: vocals 

  1. Shahzad Ismaily: bass, Moog


TINY DESK TEAM

  1. Producer: Bob Boilen 

  1. Director/Editor: Maia Stern

  1. Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin

  1. Series Producer: Bobby Carter

  1. Videographers: Maia Stern, Kara Frame, Sofia Seidel

  1. Audio Assistant: Hannah Gluvna

  1. Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer

  1. Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Joshua Bryant, Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer, Pilar Galván, Jill Britton

  1. VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

  1. Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.