Label: ESP-Disk, 2024

Personnel - Matthew Shipp: piano; Michael Bisio: bass; Newman Taylor Baker: drums.

The trio of American pianist Matthew Shipp, featuring bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker, has been deservedly praised for their complex rhythmic calculus and hypnotic reveries. Their intriguing frameworks, rich in abstract compositional constructs and impromptu discourse, cohere in each album, and that’s no exception for their new endeavor, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz.

“Primal Poem”, delicate and focused with a perceptible riff at the core and a three time feel, starts the album, followed by “Sea Song”, a tonally noir exercise with sizzling brushwork, recurrent bass pedals, and well-cadenced piano textures.

Other reflective tracks include “Tone IQ”, “Brain System”, and “Brain Work”, but the winners are “The Function” and “Non Circle”. The former, straddling the line between familiar and new, features walking bass lines supporting Shipp’s expressionism, which manifests as ricocheting rhythmic motions, fully-formed figures, and splendid note constellations. “Non Circle”, initially defined by Baker’s solid groove, denotes a disjointed nature, eventually taking heavy steps with polyrhythmic adornments. The motion here impresses, while the intense piano spurts often surprise. “Coherent System” completes the album with another telepathic, charismatically progressive performance underpinned by Baker’s martial snare fluxes.

Not as brilliant as Piano Song (2017) or The Unidentifiable (2020), these new concepts still exemplify Shipp Trio’s musical capacity and inventiveness.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - The Function ► 04 - Non Circle ► 08 - Coherent System