Vijay Iyer is a New York-based jazz musician and composer, and in this podcast interview he talks about his early years and his decision to become a musician.

Vijay has consistently won praise for his composition and music and is identified as one of the rising jazz artists in the USA.

In this podcast interview Vijay describes what it was like growing up during the 1970s and 1980s in upstate New York. Like Rudresh, Vijay's parents migrated to the USA in the 1960s.

Vijay learnt to play the violin and it was his sister who learnt to play the piano. He studied Math and Physics at Yale and went to UC Berkeley to pursue his PhD in physics. But, half-way through the course he changed his major and also made that all important decision to pursue music as his profession.

While he was a student at UC Berkeley he released two albums. His first album Memorophilia was released when he was just 23 years old. His second album Architextures was released in 2000.

Upon completing PhD, Vijay relocated to New York to pursue his musical career.

In 2004 Vijay signed a multi-album deal with Savoy Jazz, who released his album Reimagining in May 2005. Earlier this year Vijay and his long time collaborator Rudresh Mahanthappa released their first commercial album Raw Materials on Savoy Jazz.

Vijay lives with his family in New York.

Jazz New York Podcast Indian Podcast