During the interview she granted us last summer, the American composer of Pakistani origin Arooj Aftab already announced the first album of this fascinating trio that she formed with friends Vijay Iyer, eminent composer and jazz pianist at the Indian roots, and bassist-multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily. Don’t let the “experimental” label scare you off: Love in Exile is a work of rare beauty, a caress, the result of an encounter in the studio, after testing the formula on stage many times. Aftab chants with the same accuracy as on his superb album Vulture Prince (2021), Ismaily (who also shares Pakistani roots) switches from bass to sound effects to paint soothing timbres and colors. Iyer also improvises, light fingers, daring to be more carnal and jazzy only on the lyric Shadow Forces, in the middle of the album. The musical communion of Love in Exile is spiritual, harmonious, bewitching; the trio will give a concert on June 29, during the Festival international de jazz de Montréal.
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