Reviewed: 2019-10-24
Genre: Jazz
FCCs: none
Review: Master pianist Shipp returns with a stellar trio. The seven tracks on are real-time improvisations. & mostly avoid pyrotechnics, instead igniting smaller fires whose embers almost accidentally touch on the players, inspiring them with the faintest light. With every shift of the wind, we are taken to a new and intriguing place.
If You Like: Henry Threadgill, Omar Sosa, Andrew Cyrille, Fred Tompkins
Track Review (favorites denoted by *):
*1/ : Bob and Weave (10:49) –bass/piano starts> midtempo meandering jam with solos intersecting> slows to slow tempo, then swings up to fast tempo>crescendo> melody shift to uptempo staccato jam> quickly slows into off-kilter midtempo space jam> builds to uptempo & fades
2/ The Distance (11:32) – bass starts slow> slow tempo jam slowly builds to midtmpo> crescendo> midtempo jam> slows to slow tempo> slowly builds into uptempo space jam> quick fade
**3/ Solitary Figure (11:51) – piano solo starts slow> slow tempo jam morphs into slow space jam, then slowly builds into uptempo off-kilter jam> bass solo> uptempo jam> fade
*4/ Stick and Move (7:38) – bass starts in the high registers> uptempo off-kilter jam> swings to fast tempo with intersecting solos> slows to midtempo off-kilter jam> slows to fade
**5/ The Onslaught (10:45) – full band starts> crunching uptempo off-kilter jam> morphs into midtempo space jam including bowed bass> morphs into uptempo rocking jam> slows to slow tempo jam, then swings back up> crescendo> midtempo space jam> slows to fade
***6/ Feather Weight (9:15) – bass solo starts> midtempo off-kilter jam builds into fast tempo > shifts between fast and uptempo jams> slows to fade
*7. The Slip (9:15) – bass starts> uptempo hesitating jam swings to fast tempo> drops to slow tempo jam> fade