Vijay Iyer's Tirtha

Fri., April 30, 8 p.m., $26, Grand Opera House, 818 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del., 302-652-5577, grandopera.org.

by Shaun Brady

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Published: Apr 28, 2010

jazz/world

The description of this performance on the Grand Opera House's website pegs Vijay Iyer as a "South Asian pianist," despite the fact that he was born and raised in upstate New York. That confusion of identity has plagued Iyer and frequent collaborator Rudresh Mahanthappa throughout their careers, as both have explored their heritage in different but intertwining ways. Still, a decidedly modern approach to jazz is the natural leaping-off point for their ventures into Indian music, not vice versa. Tirtha is Iyer's most explicit fusion of those two worlds, a trio with (actually South Indian) guitarist Prasanna and (ditto) tabla player Nitin Mitta.

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