Holding It Down is the third installment in pianist/composer Vijay Iyer and poet/lyricist Mike Ladd’s trilogy that examines American life in a post-9/11 world. This set documents the perspectives of U.S. soldiers of color. Rather than analyzing the subject matter from a third-person view, Ladd and Iyer embed themselves by using real veterans to articulate what's going on inside their heads and how they're dealing with the outside world. Led by Maurice Decaul and Lynn Hill, who served in the armed forces in the last 10 years, the vets here speak for the millions of soldiers from Iraqi and Afghan campaigns who are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. The music’s narrative hip-hop and modern jazz fusion recalls some of the precise observation that makes Laurie Anderson’s work so potent, but the presentation here is more immediate and personal, like a well-ordered story slam with subtle but edgy musical accompaniment. This is truly a provocative work whose good intentions didn’t get in the way of making great art.