Still going strong as ever on ‘Muscle Memory,’ Dave Sewelson left it all on the field in leading a dream team with Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Steve Swell and Steve Hirsh.
Reaching deep down within himself is how Matthew Shipp can create a record like ‘The Cosmic Piano’ that rises well above being simply a ‘solo piano’ venture.
The convening of Ivo Perelman, Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Mat Maneri on ‘Armageddon Flower’ is a confluence of saxophone, piano, bass and viola for the ages.
A rare Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp/Gerald Cleaver trio produced a special occasion with ‘The Foreign Legion’, now released in digital format thanks for Leo Records and Burning Ambulance.
‘The Data’ is some of Matthew Shipp’s most heartfelt and ardent of his solo piano albums, informed with a lifetime of jazz and classical studies behind it.
Like a fingerprint or snowflake, Ivo Perelman’s and Matthew Shipp’s ‘Magical Incantation’ is unique within a collection of other unique tie-ups even if the basic approaches are similar.
The Matthew Shipp Trio’s ‘New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz’ further obliterates the line between composed and cursive, allowing for prettier melodic development while retaining all the element of surprise.
The seriously advanced improvising of ‘Fire Within’ is borne out of the fun that Rich Halley clearly had joining forces again with the like-minded Matthew Shipp Trio.
Matthew Shipp has made a lot of solo piano records but they never grow tiresome because of his ability to express something fresh every time. That’s the intrinsic nature of Shipp.
The unworldly communion of Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp is a sacred musical bond. During ‘Live In Carrboro,’ Jeff Cosgrove uncannily knows just how to not only keep that bond intact, but strengthen it further.
