MATTHEW SHIPP: Art of the Improviser
Thirsty Ear, 2011

AVANT-GARDE – Two sides of pianist Matthew Shipp are presented in these live sets from the spring of 2010. Very good, cerebral stuff as you would expect from Shipp, firm and brooding as it falls into and breaks out of high-tension patterns. It’s highly challenging but not inaccessible.
Note: The pieces all flow together, so you may want to fade in and out of tracks to avoid abrupt starts/endings.

Matthew Shipp : piano
Michael Bisio : bass
Whit Dickey : drums

Fo’s Picks: Disc I - 1, 3, 4, 5 Disc II – 1, 3, 4, 5

DISC ONE (Trio)

1. 12:27 – heavy piano theme drifts into skipping, splintering, tangling lines over fluid rhythm; entire second half is a wide-open bass solo
2. 9:15 – danse macabre: creepy melody repeats; driving drums go solo for 4 mins
3. 16:01 – fragile piano cobwebs over bowed bass & shifting drums; opens up to spacious, rambling improv; dense piano really dives in for second half
4. 7:44 – A Train! melody fractured, falls to heavy chords, chugging improvisation
5. 6:49 – great sound: gloomy piano melody against scribbly bass, soft drums

DISC TWO (Solo)

1. 5:39 – melodic strains bounce off big brooding chords; a stern, unyielding sound
2. 5:12 – standard: undulating melody tossed in a stormy sea
3. 8:03 – almost catchy theme bounces along, dissolves into thin strands, repeats
4. 7:52 – lonely, bittersweet impressionism (think Erik Satie), improv scatters
5. 7:24 – theme jabs and strolls, falls into deepening shadow, then scatters to wind
6. 4:50 – starts with little spirals, becomes richly impressionistic

[ Fo ] 04/03/11