feature photo: Anna Yatskevich
In the midst of other artful endeavors like collaborating once again with long-time musical partner Ivo Perelman (Armageddon Flower) and publishing a set of prose and essays (Black Mystery School Pianists and Other Writings), piano savant Matthew Shipp has made a new set of solo piano recordings. The Cosmic Piano (June 20, 2025; Cantaloupe Music) is another thoughtful, spiritual outpouring of Shipp’s core being using his piano as the vessel that puts it out there for all of creation, for all of time eternal.
This is how Shipp has long approached his music, but it’s a formula that never goes stale because it’s pure in intent and renders something that exists only in the moment it’s made. Literally so, as the dozen compositions that make up The Cosmic Piano were created extemporaneously.
“The Cosmic Piano” is a reminder that Shipp won’t follow one chord with the chord you expect but it will be logical. For “Orbit Light,” Shipp puts together a multi-movement symphony on piano, with finespun moods slyly carried out sequentially. The blues is hiding in plain sight on “Blues Orgasm,” where blues figures get transfigured into jazz ones. The Mal Waldron in Shipp really comes out for the dominant “Cosmic Junk Jazz DNA” as well as for “Piano’s DNA Upgrade.
Shipp brings the boom to end “Face to Face” and carries it right over to “Subconscious Piano,” while a somber, frail pathos overwhelms “Suburban Outerspace.” He allows notes to hang in the air on “The Other Dimensional Tone,” giving every one of them some import and plays each one like his life depends on it. Finally, Shipp closes out with “A Cosmic Thank You,” sending a quiet, personal dispatch to the universe.
Matthew Shipp may be a highly trained pianist but the ability to instantly conjure melodies with such gravitas and otherworldliness is a great gift that can’t be taught. Reaching deep down within himself is how he can create a record like The Cosmic Piano that rises well above being simply a ‘solo piano’ venture.
Pre-order/order The Cosmic Piano from Bandcamp.
*** Matthew Shipp vinyl and CDs on Amazon ***
- Matthew Shipp – ‘The Cosmic Piano’ (2025) - June 17, 2025
- Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp String Trio – ‘Armageddon Flower’ (2025) - June 16, 2025
- Claudio Scolari Project – ‘Bloom’ (2025) - June 12, 2025
