Matthew Shipp Trio - New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz

May 21, 2024

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

Matthew Shipp Trio - World Construct

June 15, 2022

Label: ESP-Disk, 2022

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

The fabulous trio of pianist Matthew Shipp, a creative force with incessant grand concepts in mind, returns with World Construct, a collection of 11 tracks whose diverse moods and sounds take you on a well-sequenced musical journey. To say that Shipp has been busy is an understatement since his collaborations are numerous. However, he has built a very particular and special sound world with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker that we rarely see in other groups.

The album's opener, “Tangible”, is true to its title and focused on a graspable groove with a colorful piano display that would serve a hip-hop tune. Shipp patiently builds “Sustained Construct” as a solo piano segment that guides us into “Spine”, a controlled abstraction that feels more mournful than cheerful. The occasional pounding pedals and supple bass figures are replaced by distorted shapes on “Jazz Posture”, a lively and searing explosion of rhythmic fluxes. Baker concludes this energetic tidal rubato with a dynamic drum dissertation.

Another piece that finds the trio in an agitated state of despair is “Abandoned”. It’s confrontational, oblique in movement, opaque in spirit, always powerful. It doesn’t have the beauty of “Stop the World”, a pensive modal piano-bass duet that, from the first minute, turns the spotlight to Bisio.

The listening grows into a crescendo, and the last tracks develop with skill and passion. “A Mysterious State” alternates the time feel between quadruple and triple, strutting all along with snare drum rolls, arcane harmonies, and serpentine melodies. The genius harmonic chops of the pianist move forward and reach the final part of “Sly Glance”, whose supreme jazz vibe makes it the coolest track of the album.

The three musicians use their masterful understanding of sound and timbre to combine several ideas spontaneously and form complex passages right through “World Construct”, the closing piece, which, at more than 10 minutes, is the longest ride of the set. The Matthew Shipp Trio remains in top form, and World Construct is highly recommended.

Favorite Tracks:
09 - Stop the World ► 10 - Sly Glance ► 11 - World Construct

Matthew Shipp Trio - The Unidentifiable

October 7, 2020

Label: Esp-Disk, 2020

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

The phenomenal pianist Matthew Shipp leads one of the best trios currently at work. Relying on the acute, sensitive responsiveness of bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker, Shipp creates freely with a broad aesthetic range that goes beyond the expected. The three musicians are mavericks of the rhythm and texture who cultivate an exemplary balance between discipline and abandon. Wonderful, lyrical moments are extracted from the new album, The Unidentifiable, starting with “Blue Transport System”, which, possessing that kind of slow, seductive rhythmic flow that keeps us engaged, also pulsates at a quiet boil. Bisio’s melodious bass helps to cultivate this trance-like penchant for reverie, and the lovely finale is worthy of a film-noir score.

“Phantom Journey” resonates in its own harmonic force. The bulky chords are filled with color, timely disquieted by the loud, percussive outbursts that emerge from the far left reaches of Shipp’s keyboard. It’s a thrilling, occasionally spooky ride, and yet the tune’s main rhythmic idea suggests nu-jazz vibes and a taste of Latin. Also evocative in its soundscapes, “The Unidentifiable” and “Regeneration” proves the trio atypically indulging in different moods and rhythms with magnificent results. If on the former piece the trio brings the magnetic modal jazz of the 60’s to the center, supplementing it with an uncanny ability to swing and an unaccompanied bass solo; on the latter, they embark on an engrossing calypso cruise that never ceases to surprise. The excellence of the groove is impressive and comes with a pristine melody atop.

Whereas “The Dimension” is a solitary piano ride professed with understated yet intense fervor, “Loop” is a free ramble that includes fluttery run-ups as part of the call-and-response methodology followed by the trio.

The record closes out with “New Heaven New Earth”, a tune bookended by arco bass slashes of various tones, although it’s Baker’s scintillating brushwork that really ends it. At the very center, Shipp exteriorizes with wit and irony, revolving around certain elements. Epic narratives are forged through nimble snare drum routines and piano cadences, and that disciplined sonic architecture is enriched with textural waves of improvisation.

The charm and energy are palpable throughout the album’s 11 tracks. This is such an elastic trio, whose immense resources take them wherever they want.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Blue Transport System ► 03 - Phantom Journey ► 07 - The Unidentifiable

Matthew Shipp Trio - Signature

February 13, 2019

Label: ESP Disk, 2019

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

Pianist Matthew Shipp reunites with trio mates, bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker, to bring his bewitching signature into a new album, the follow-up to the magnificent Piano Song (Thirsty Ear, 2017). This collection of inventive tunes, precisely called Signature, exhibits the title song as the opening sentence. It's a peaceful exploration of melodic lines crafted with intervallic curiosity in the middle register and liberally anchored by left-hand conductions. Bass and drums sneak in nicely and softly, tinging the scenario with an opalescent luster without ever overriding the pianist’s moves.

“Flying Saucer” starts off with some agitation in the lower register of the keyboard. As Shipp moves up to adjacent octaves, Bisio percolates a compulsive, entangling, rapid-fire sequence of notes that augments the song's textural density. Simultaneously, Baker varies the rhythm, opting for what better suits the moment. The zealous interplay perseveres with verbal fluidity until reaching a playful, hypnotically paced finale.

Ruminative classical cadences, harmonic ambiguity, and rhythmic tension distinguish “The Way”. Here, you can trace Shipp's deep notes systematically articulated with percussive spirit, and then enjoy a portion of playfulness in the course of a few sequences that push you into some runaway train heading to some darker place. This dazzling activity within indistinct structures is an archetype of the trio.

Revolving around an eloquent riff whose source could be the classical genre or a Broadway show, “Zo #2” distributes puzzling note choices over the warp and woof created by a sturdy bass-drums coalition. Playing with similar elements, “Speech of Form” is considerably more enigmatic, fenced in its own dreamy, modern classical universe. Different yet still fitting, “Stage Ten” adopts a conventional swinging drive in the foundation, supporting concentric explorations with prepared piano.

Alluding to Chick Corea, “This Matrix” runs over 16 minutes, spinning with rhythmic fulgor and glistening with creative patterns and boppish lines soaked in extravagance and chromaticism. It comes with a bass monologue and turns out charmingly lyrical in its last section.

Shipp remains faithful to freer forms of expression and Signature gives you another chance to dive into the magical complexity of his resourceful music.

Favorite Tracks:
05 - The Way ► 08 - Zo #2 ► 10 - The Matrix