As passionate as each man is intelligent, both pianist/composer Vijay Iyer and trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith also manifest healthy egos. Accordingly, collaborations like ‘Defiant Life’ require each man to contour his skills to complement the other sufficiently. Their shared humility is intrinsic to solidifying the inspiring bond that arises from the two not only playing, but composing together. In the end, the generosity of spirit maximizes the potency of the art these men create on this second of their collaborations (the first was ‘A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke’, ECM Records, 2016). […] To be sure, this second pairing of the souls and the intellects of Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith is picturesque music from start to finish. Fittingly, the quiet but purposeful conclusion that is ‘Procession: Defiant Life’ directly references the staunch attitude at the heart of the album’s title and, by extension, the full extent to which that mindset permeates the music.
Doug Collette, All About Jazz
Using the past to make sense of the present fits the mode for new collaboration ‘Defiant Life’, in which the pair look back in anger, yes, but as an act of hope in response to our current time. They recorded the album over a short time in the summer of 2024, but it feels as relevant as possible right now, an act of calm resistance in an era of turmoil. […] In a defiant life, one must slow down and gain some self-understanding and perspective in order to withstand and overcome the world’s oppressive forces, whether they come in the form of faceless empires or imminent personal attacks. The players remain slow and measured throughout, offering their sort of calm in a world of chaos, providing respite as resistance. Both artists know how to use space, and their comfort with each other allows them to let the pieces slowly develop, organizing around nearly subliminal structures.
Justin Cober-Lake, Spectrum Culture
‘Defiant Life’ once again finds the two musicians engaged in a sort of hypnotic chemistry, crafting stripped-down pieces that are as much ambient as jazz […] These pieces are sometimes melodic and sometimes floating weightlessly on drones, always fascinating, frequently moving, and rarely broadcasting where they’re going in advance. A stunning piece of ambient jazz that’ll take a few listens to fully absorb, but it’s well worth the effort.
Jeff Terich, Treblezine
As the title suggests, this is a work inspired by struggle and challenge, despair at the state of the world and belief in humankind’s capacity for redemption. As they have shown when both leading their own groups and working together, Wadada Leo Smith and Vijay Iyer are able to lend to such themes the necessary emotional depth as well as musical invention. […] ‘Floating River Requiem (For Patrice Lumumba)’ is heart stopping for the understated gospel implications of Iyer’s chords and the wry blues of Smith’s melodies, tracing a line from Armstrong to Eldridge to Cherry. […] Elsewhere digital effects are almost like a distant purr of cellos, and when the brass phrases fragment against the faintest of loops or the gentle hammering of a single icy high note on the keyboard the result is intense. Disciplined, solemn music by two masters of communication that provides a serious response to serious issues.
Kevin Le Gendre, Jazzwise (Editor’s Choice)
A second ECM album for the duo following on from the 2016 release ‘A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke’. If in some ways ‘Defiant Life’ appears to pick up from where Iyer and Smith left off, it also reveals new depths and not just how far their music has come but also implies what may follow. In the liner notes the pianist says that ‘This recording session was conditioned by our ongoing sorrow and outrage over the past year’s cruelties, but also by our faith in human possibility’. If this paints a rather gloomy picture then the music ultimately wins out, and it is the underlying faith in humanity and human possibility that dominates. It is perhaps the opening ‘Prelude: Survival’ that brings an air of darkness, and out of this the light gradually appears as the duo allow the music to unfold. Elsewhere Smith’s trumpet sound, whether playing open horn or muted cannot supress the joy inherent in his lines that draw from Iyer a response that ensures that the shadows cast by the darkness are left behind as one steps into a more open light and spacious terrain. While Smith confines himself to trumpet throughout, Iyer brings forth a bewildering variety of sounds and textures from the piano, Fender Rhodes and electronics that are utilised to frame and support Smith’s often dramatic and lyric statements. As these are conceived in the moment the skill involved in manipulating both acoustic and electronic soundscapes is quite breathtaking. […] For those that enjoyed the duos earlier album this makes a fine companion and showing how far both musicians have travelled in the interim. If you are new to this musical partnership, then this is a wonderful way to make one’s acquaintance.
Nick Lea, Jazz Views
La musique palpitante et inventive est remarquablement travaillée. Wadada Leo Smith trace de longues lignes tour à tour lyriques, méditatives, fragiles, profondes, dures, tranchantes ou puissantes. Très adroit, Iyer remplit l’espace avec des accords toujours pertinents.
Paul Jaillet, Jazz Magazine
With their latest collaboration, ‘Defiant Life’, pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith reunite for a second time, driven by their deep ‘aural attunement’—a creative blend of inspiration, reflection, and healing. Composed over two days, the album channels their sorrow and outrage over the world’s cruelties while maintaining faith in human possibility. They convey this through freewheeling avant-jazz atmospheres that lean into ambient textures. […] While the duo imbues each collaboration with a touch of grace, their individual compositions—one from each—stand out. Smith’s ‘Floating River Requiem’ dedicated to Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba, who was assassinated in 1961, unfolds with mournful intonations and fluid rhythmic freedom. Iyer’s darkly bluesy comping provides a majestic backdrop for Smith’s piercingly emotive melodies. In turn, Iyer’s ‘Kite’, written for the late Palestinian writer and poet Rafael Alareer, highlights the duo’s remarkable synergy in a piece that is both plaintive and luminous. Here, Smith’s trumpet emits bouts of light. Iyer and Smith follow a more contemplative philosophy weaving deep lyrical contours with a sense of spontaneity. They prove that there’s no need to be bound by rules. They simply need their freedom.
Filipe Freitas, Jazz Trail
Like its predecessor, ‘Defiant Life’ mainly consists of co-written pieces, with Iyer and Smith each contributing one of their own. Smith’s, with a sparse notated score in the album booklet, is ‘Floating River Requiem (for Patrice Lumumba),’ referring to the Congolese Prime Minister killed in a CIA-assisted coup in 1961. Iyer’s is ‘Kite (for Refaat Alareer),’ dedicated to the late Palestinian writer in the title and more broadly, one can surmise, to Gaza’s people. Words often fail us in times like these, but to paraphrase John McLaughlin, it’s music that speaks here, and ‘Kite’ does so eloquently, with Iyer’s Rhodes conjuring eerie harmonies and keeping a steady, unobtrusive rhythm as Smith’s trumpet sings to those in need of strength and solace.
David R. Adler, Jazz Times
As the title suggests, this is a work inspired a struggle and challenge, despair at the state of the world and belief in humankind’s capacity for redemption. As they have shown when both leading their own groups and working together, Wadada Leo Smith and Vijay Iyer are able to lend to such themes the necessary emotional depth as well as musical invention. The soundscape on ‘Sumud’ makes the point in no uncertain terms. Trailing electronic hiss, like the flicker of a faulty generator, unsettles yet somehow soothes while Smith’s muted trumpet creates vaporous phrases, some long held, some spiraled downwards with mild force supported by Iyer’s acoustic and electric tremolos, which slowly and purposefully build to a measured yet powerful conclusion. If the net result is a deeply affecting lament, then ‘Floating River Requiem (For Patrice Lumumba)’ is heart stopping for the understated gospel implications of Iyer’s chords and the wry blues of Smith’s melodies, tracing a line from Armstrong to Eldridge to Cherry. […] Elsewhere digital effects are almost like a distant purr of cellos, and when the brass phrases fragment against the faintest of loops or the gentle hammering of a single icy note on the keyboard the result is intense. Disciplined, solemn music by two masters of communication that provides a serious response to serious issues.
Kevin Le Gendre, Jazzwise (Editor’s choice)
Trotz ist keine politische Haltung, aber ein gute Voraussetzung für hartnäckigen Widerstandsgeist. Das Bekenntnis zu einem ‘Defiant Life’, einem trotzigen Leben, wie es der Pianist Vijay Iyer und der Trompeter Wadada Leo Smith ablegen, wird von Ereignissen genährt, die man ihrer Musik allein nicht anhört. Doch der Stolz, die Würde und die Unbeugsamkeit, die sie in sechs Stücken entfalten, passen zu den Widmungen der beiden einzigen Kompositionen. Smiths ‘Floating River Requiem’ gilt dem 1961 ermordeten kongolesischen Ministerpräsidenten Patrice Lumumba, Iyers ‘Kite’ dem 2023 in Gaza durch israelische Bomben zu Tode gekommenen palästinensischen Dichter Refaat Alarer. Auch sie sind weitgehend improvisiert und leben von jener brüchigen Schönheit, die schon das Vorgängeralbum ‘A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke’ ausmachte.
Gregor Dotzauer, Tagesspiegel
Musicisti di enorme talento, sviluppato in decine e decine di registrazioni, tra cui non pochi capolavori (a partire da quel ‘Divine Love’ del 1979 di Smith, che Iyer definisce ‘una delle più grandi opere registrate di tutti i tempi’), i due sviluppano un lavoro in continua evoluzione, come se fra loro avessero solo concordato le grandi linee e il presente ‘doloroso’ apparisse in continuazione durante le sessioni a dettare il percorso definitivo. Ne nasce un senso di meraviglia che accompagna l’ascoltatore, che lo pungola tra i dubbi e le illusioni di ‘Elegy: The Pilgrimage’ oppure lo opprime nel lucore sinistro di ‘Sumud’ oppure ancora lo prende per mano nell’avvilimento della magnifica conclusione di ‘Procession: Defiant Life’. Perché oggi è sempre più indispensabile vivere ogni giorno una ‘vita ribelle’.
Raffaello Carabini, Spettakolo
A second album of terrific, largely improvised duets by Vijay Iyer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, aptly titled ‘Defiant Life’; as Iyer writes in the liner notes, the recording session ‘was conditioned by our ongoing sorrow and outrage over the past year’s cruelties, but also by our faith in human possibility’.
Geoff Andrew, Notes & Observations
Pas de discours intempestifs dans ces 53 minutes de magnifique musique: juste ce qui doit être dit. Cette musique parle de nous, de l’histoire de l’être humain, de ses désastres et de ses utopies, de ses erreurs et de ses émotions. C’est d’une sensibilité extraordinaire, d’une profondeur abyssale, d’une longue réflexion et d’une beauté intransigeante.
Jean-Claude Vantoyen, Le Soir
Der 83-jährige Trompeter Wadada Leo Smith und der 30 Jahre jüngere Pianist Vijay Iyer kennen sich lange und gut. Vielleicht kommt ihre musikalische Konversation deshalb ohne Geschwätzigkeit, ohne Floskelhaftigkeit aus. Da muss nicht jeder Gedanke ausformuliert werden, um sich zu verstehen, da genügen auch Andeutungen, die weite Assziationsräume öffnen. […] Die Intimität dieser Dialoge scheint uns vor die Herausforderung zu stellen, das Nichtgespielte, das nur Angedeutete vor dem inneren Ohr zu ergänzen. Wem es gelingt, sich auf diese spröde Schönheit einzulassen, der wird Zeuge, wie sich in vermeintich kargen Klanglandschaften überrschend reiche Blüten öffnen.
Reinhold Unger, Münchner Merkur
Es sind leise, teilweise mit Elektronik verfremdete, mit langen Trompetentönen und repetitiven Klavierklängen gemalte Stücke, bisweilen gemeinsam aufbrausend, dann wieder lange nachhallend, geradezu schwebend. Auch wenn für Vijay Iyer alles politisch ist, heißt das für ihn keineswegs, dass ihre Stücke von allen so wahrgenommen werden. Was die beiden Musiker geschaffen haben, ist eine sehr ruhige, geradezu elegische Musik, die nie auftrumpft. Man könnte sie als eine Art spirituelle Meditation ansehen, entstanden im Studio.
Johannes Kaiser, SWR
Dissonant und dringlich, elegisch und tröstlich, sinister und luzide – so tönt das titelgebende trotzige Leben, das der versatile Pianist Vijay Iyer, 43, und der Trompeter mit dem traurigsten Ton seit Miles Davis, Wadada Leo Smith, 83, im Juli 2024 im Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano eingespielt haben. Iyer lässt auch elektronisches Gerät dröhnen, wabern und wolken, beschränkt sich beim berührendsten Stück aber auf den Flügel: ‘Floating River Requiem (for Patrice Lumumba)’.
Klaus Nüchtern, Falter
E’ passato tanto, troppo tempo dalla prima volta di Vijay Iyer con Wadada Leo Smith, ‘A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke’ (2016). Non se la ricordava più nessuno. Forse è anche meglio, siamo esentati dal perdere tempo con i confronti. In un certo senso ‘Defiant Life’ vede la coppia rifarsi la verginità, puntare in direzioni inedite, agire in maniera più problematica, conseguenza dello stato attuale del mondo. […] Una sensazione di claustrofobia ben più rilevante ad apertura di album, con i tenebrosi tre minuti di Prelude: Survival, a cui segue una Sumud marcata nel profondo dall’elettronica, un convitato che sembra chiedere insistentemente udienza ai padroni di casa. Iyer e Smith, anche per la netta differenza d’età, hanno approcci ed esperienze dissimili, ma per fortuna una capacità di sintonia rara.
Piercarlo Paggio, Blow up
The trumpeter continues this sustained burst of late-life creativity with a duet meditation on the current human condition with pianist/keyboardist Vijay Iyer. Overall, the music is sober in mood and sombre in tone, though the interplay of Smith’s brassy confidence and Iyer’s nuanced pianistics and electronica adds a sense of resilience. Iyer has been working with Smith on and off for two decades — their previous collaboration, ‘A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke’, was released in 2016 — and though two pieces are preconceived and four are spontaneously co-composed, the freedom and focus of the musicianship makes the distinction impossible to hear. […] . The session, according to Iyer, was conditioned by sorrow and outrage at last year’s cruel world events, and the sonic terrain of ‘Prelude: Survival’ captures that. The broad sweep of ‘Sumud’, Arabic for steadfastness, comes next, an aural confirmation of the musicians’ continuing faith in human possibilities; Iong-sustained electronic drone supported by wisps of trumpet, tinkles of piano and rasps of Fender Rhodes. Later that faith is further underlined by the subtle rhythmic pulse that imbues ‘Elegy: The Pilgrimage’ with warmth.
Mike Hobart, Financial Times
In den weiten Räumen zwischen Wadadas serener Trompete (mal offen, mal mit Dämpfer, vornehmlich in hohen Lagen) und Vijays behutsamsten Keyboard-Klängen (Piano, E-Piano, Electronics) ist viel Stille und viel Resonanzraum für die Fantasie des Zuhörers. Melancholie als Widerstand. Oder umgekehrt. Jedenfalls die andere Seite eines immer ferneren Amerika. Am besten trifft die Haltung ein Titel von Peter Rühmkorf: ‘Bleib erschütterbar, doch wiedersteh.’
Peter Rüedi, Weltwoche
