Matthew Shipp isn’t just any kind of piano player, he’s an improviser. As he plays the piano, organ or whatever may have keys, you have your ears and imagination to put together a story of what is being portrayed—to view his music as a continuation of the idea that music, with or without lyrics, is a conversation, a bonding experience. This makes plenty of sense when you look at his two latest albums, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz and Magical Incantation.
The Matthew Shipp Trio consists of jazz legends within their own right: Michael Bisio on bass and Newman Taylor Baker on drums alongside Shipp’s piano. Not one song has a member overtaking each other’s abilities, instead they work towards a unified idea or sound. New Concepts opens with the brief “Primal Poem,” which gives a back-and-forth feeling of wayward paranoia and a moment of clarity. Shipp starts with three minor notes before progressing into darker territories, the other two provide necessary musical textures such as the rushing sensation of Baker’s cymbals to flesh out the riff and the change in the song’s direction. “Sea Song” is more impressionistic with Baker on jazz brushes imitating the waves of an ocean, Bisio on the low end, and Ship on the piano articulating the sound of dread and uncertainty.
Though descriptions of the album have not solidified any theme in the songs, you might recognize a theme of hypervigilance and unease. On “Non-Circle,” Shipp refuses to keep still as emotions change like the non-linear travels of one’s thoughts as Baker’s drum tumbles, rolls, and crashes like different-sized rocks down a steep hill. Bisio’s bass then adds enough boom to accentuate each tumble and bombard of Shipp’s keys. “Brain System” creaks, plods, and heightens the fear that could take one’s breath away, while also making way for the creeping crawl of the next track, “Brain Work.” Even “Coherent System,” an 11-minute closer feels like the climax ending to the entire collection—a climax that turns from wiry and nervous to nearby explosive. And that is around the six-minute mark!
On the other hand, Magical Incantations, created with Brazillian saxophonist Ivo Perelman, is more focused on nocturnal sounds. Though this isn’t the first time they have collaborated—the two have reportedly created what was considered free jazz classics in jazz circles—this project is not a bad way to introduce yourself. Ivo’s saxophone may provide a bit of coolness to counterbalance Shipp’s piano, as demonstrated in the opener “prayer,” this doesn’t mean that it is a record to relax with a cup of tea or cognac (or both). It’s an album where in its own world, weird things happen, romantic things happen, fires get lit and you often have to be mindful of all your wishes, lest the worst happen—all brewed by two men in a room.
Themes of magic and spirituality spread through the album titles—“prayer,” “enlightenment,” and “rituals”—help you paint pictures. “lustihood” may begin with that late-night feeling of wanting through the cool and calm saxophone-piano combo. But such a thing doesn’t take a lot of time before the dissonant sound of yearning turns into maddening obsession towards the middle. Perelman plays the saxophone with only enough power to communicate the sound of desperation and love. “incarnation” is one of the album’s heaviest tracks, as Shipp creeps and stomps as a predatory creature on the piano and Perelman’s saxophone wails almost like a child in the dark before the track eases its way down like smoke rising from a snuffed-out candle.
Magical Incantations and New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz are two of the most recent albums involving Shipp that evoke two different kinds of imagery and emotion. Both by some of the most celebrated jazz artists in the scene. If you have adventurous ears concerning what one can do with jazz or are new to the Matthew Shipp name, either of these albums wouldn’t be a bad introduction to all.
