Love In Exile with Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily

And Kalia Vandever

Improvisations Series

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Photo by Ebru Yildiz
Photo by Bao Ngo

Thursday September 14

The Town Hall: 123 W 43rd St., – Manhattan

7:30 PM – Doors | 8PM – Show

Tickets: $32 – $62 – Membership Benefits Apply

Seated Show

Love In Exile, the latest album from Arooj Aftab, is a collaborative effort put forth with fellow world-class musicians Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily. The album, released on Verve Records, was named “Best New Music” by Pitchfork and given a glowing review from NPR, who described the project as a “manifestation of musical telepathy.” Arooj Aftab is a Grammy award-winning singer, composer, and producer working in various musical styles and idioms, including jazz, minimalism and Urdu poetry. She is a 2023 United States Artists Fellow and a recipient of the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music. Vijay Iyer is one of the leading music-makers of his generation. His honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, a Doris Duke Performing Arts Award, a United States Artist Fellowship, a Grammy nomination, and Alpert Award in the Arts. Shahzad Ismaily‘s sensitivity and technical acumen has made him a legend, recording and touring with musicians like Beth Orton, Yoko Ono, Feist, and many others.

The significance of the name “Love in Exile” points towards the similarities between the feelings of longing and diaspora and the mysterious way in which a group can improvise songs that are free of traditional structure, tempo, or genre. 

NPR – Love In Exile Review

Kalia Vandever is an American trombonist and composer living in Brooklyn, NY. Her approach to the trombone is distinctive and defined by her sonorous tone and lyrical improvisational voice. She leans into the challenges of the instrument and allows patience and melody to guide her process. 

In her compositional practice, Kalia draws from her love of songs and improvisation, creating a landscape of sounds that resonate in the body and hold the listener. She released her debut ensemble album In Bloom in 2019 which has been described as “the rise of an exciting voice for the music” (Seton Hawkins, Hot House Jazz Magazine). Her sophomore album, Regrowth released in May, 2022 on New Amsterdam Records and “confirms her strengths as a composer and bandleader with a distinctly contemporary point of view.” (Nate Chinen, WBGO Jazz). Her debut solo album, We Fell In Turn featuring her works for trombone, voice and electronics released on AKP Records in March, 2023. 

The IMPROVISATIONS series features musicians from various backgrounds and cultures collaborating and creating new music together.