Accelerando, the Vijay Iyer Trio’s latest album, is now confirmed for a 5 March release in the UK on CD and vinyl. The follow up to the widely acclaimed Historicity the album release comes ahead of UK dates in May, the first by the US-based trio in nearly two years.

The material on Accelerando steers an epic course from Ellington, through 1970s funk and disco, to the avant garde, and on to contemporary psychedelic-electronica navigated by Iyer’s distinctive post-MBASE filter that also draws in five of the pianist's original compositions. Iyer, 40, who this year released Tirtha with Prasanna and Nitin Mitta, spent the early part of the year touring heavily with them although Tirtha’s packed touring schedule in Europe did not take in the UK. The pianist then convened the trio in August for the recording sessions spread over two days in a New York city Midtown studio. Double bassist Stephan Crump, like Iyer, has been absent from these shores of late, but drummer Marcus Gilmore appeared at the London Jazz Festival and on tour here with Steve Coleman in November.

Produced by Iyer himself Accelerando has 11 tracks and shares one or two points of connection with past work. For instance, the fourth track ‘Human Nature’ – the Porcaro/Bettis song associated with both Michael Jackson and Miles Davis – Iyer covered on his Solo album that appeared last year. ‘The Village of the Virgins’, the last track, taken from the ballet The River written for the Alvin Ailey company, sees Iyer cover Ellington once more, a link again to Iyer's Solo album on which he delivered a staggeringly lucid version of ‘Fleurette Africaine’.

The main talking point in terms of track selection is the third track ‘The Star of a Story’, a Rod Temperton song that featured on disco funksters Heatwave’s Central Heating album. But you won’t be hearing Iyer’s version, I think it’s fair to say, down your local retro disco – glitterball or no.

The full track list is the ominous taster ‘Bode’; then ‘Optimism’ (both Iyer compositions); ‘The Star of a Story (Temperton); ‘Human Nature (Trio Extended Version)’; Herbie Nichols’ ‘Wildflower’; ‘Mmmhmm’ by Flying Lotus and Thundercat; Henry Threadgill’s ‘Little Pocket Size Demons’; ‘Lude’, ‘Accelerando’, and ‘Actions Speak’ (all three by Iyer); and ‘The Village of The Virgins’ by Ellington referred to above. The cover once more features Anish Kapoor art, a signature flourish on every Iyer release for ACT so far.

– Stephen Graham