Pune’s Shreyas Iyengar is one of those multi-talented characters that does everything well, it seems; his second single ‘Tough Times I’ features some pretty virtuosic instrumentation that he’s done all of himself. On his upcoming album, he plays saxophone, piano, drums, keys and guitar (possibly among others); this isn’t your average multi-instrumentalist-composer. ‘Tough Times’ shows that he can not only play (excellently) but also write a driving and fun contemporary jazz piece. That’s a whole lot of ticked boxes.

The song is written in the modern jazz ‘tradition’ (if there is such a thing). The grooves are alternatively linear and loose; angular and organic. There’s probably a nod to South American grooves in the second half of the track where things take a shift toward the more calm and relaxed while the first half has more of a jagged and furious presentation. Many modern jazz bands are trying to experiment with giving their compositions a more staccato and rigid feel to maybe balance the usually swung and ‘alive’ nature of the genre; ‘Tough Times I’ doesn’t overtly swing, but the two sides of the sound are very much there. There’s also some fantastic playing on display. His drumming is razor-sharp, his sax is the beating heart of the whole thing and his keys are lush. The song is also produced well with a balance between dry, crisp rhythms and more rounded instrumentation. All in all, there’s not much to miss here. If this standard (no pun intended) is maintained over a full release, it is going to be something quite special.