Jazz Pianist Vijay Iyer - Free Show!

World-class composer and jazz pianist Vijay Iyer, voted the #1 Rising Star Jazz Artist and #1 Rising Star Composer in the Downbeat Magazine International Critics' Poll for both 2006 and 2007, will play a free concert on Saturday, April 4 in honor of Dan Lucas, a UNC Asheville alumnus who died a year ago while earning an advanced degree at the University of California at Berkeley. This April's concert is the first in a planned annual series made possible by the Community Foundation of western NC. Iyer's albums to date include, most recently, Door (2008), a collaboration with the experimental three-piece unit Fieldwork ("a jazz power trio for the new century" on NPR's Fresh Air), and Tragicomic (2008), called "a stunning achievement... one of the year's best albums" by Troy Collins on AllAboutJazz.com. Joining Iyer on April 4 are Marcus Gillmore on drums and Stephen Crump on bass, to comprise a trio that Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune called "one of the great rhythm units of the day." Iyer's April 4 performance will be held at Lipinsky Auditorium on the UNC Asheville campus. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the show will begin at 8 p.m. Admission is free.

For more information on the Western North Carolina Community Foundation, please visit www.cfwnc.org. For more information on the work of Vijay Iyer, visit www.vijay-iyer.com. For questions about this concert or the Dan Lucas Memorial Fund, contact Miranda Volborth at 828.450.5186.