Houstonist keeps reading about Vijay Iyer (among the “new stars of jazz” by U.S. News & World Report and one of “today’s most important pianists” by The New Yorker). Vijay and his quartet make their Houston debut thanks to the ever-on-top-of-it folks at Da Camera. They play Saturday, April 26th at 8:00 PM in the Cullen Theater at the Wortham. And here's your chance to win tickets.

Rollicking with an ever-morphing rhythm, Iyer's music leads to unexpected places, places you wanted to go but didn't know how to get to. A self-taught pianist and the son of Indian immigrants, Iyer brings to American jazz an underlying hint of Indian rhythm. Says Iyer, “People who know a lot about Indian music, such as Indian musicians, hear it instantly. I don’t try to make it sound Indian. It’s more a process of my identity manifesting in the music. Almost any composition of mine in the last 12 years has been influenced by Indian music, usually at the rhythmic level.” Hear it here.

Tickets for Vijay Iyer Quartet are $26.50, $38 and $45 (half price for students, teachers and senior citizens), but free for the first five people to write us at contest (at) houstonist (dot) com. Send us your name and phone number and you just might win a pair of tickets. Don't wait until after lunch. We hope you win. Enjoy!