One of the things you have to see at this year’s Earshot Jazz Festival is the Vijay Iyer Trio’s performance at Benaroya Hall. Vijay Iyer is not only one of the most talented pianists of our moment—he is also one of the smartest. His education in music and theory is deep, but he’s not above experimenting with pop tunes (such as Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature”) or exploring sample-based and boom-heavy regions of hiphop (he has worked with Das Racist). Iyer’s intellect is at once modern and profoundly traditional. (Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, www.earshot.org, 7:30 pm, $22, all ages)

Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory...