Aftab, Iyer and Ismaily: Love in Exile (2023)
Singer Arooj Aftab’s Grammy-winning Vulture Prince of 2021 was one of the most entrancing, hypnotic and beautiful of the year (and featured in our previous Essential Vinyl issue). Here the singer – born in Saudi Arabia to a Pakistani family and now based in Brooklyn – is with jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and bassist Shahzad Ismaily, and again tapping into the spiritual realms on a double album which seduces and transports. Quietly remarkable.
Next: Arooj Aftab, Vulture Prince and Night Reign; Vijay Iyer, Mutations
