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.

Michael Bisio and Timothy Hill recently got together to make a delightful, instinctive record that neither could have made with anyone else.

Kirk Knuffke and Michael Bisio’s instinctual interaction on ‘For You I Don’t Want To Go’ makes their duets much more than just an exchange of chops; it’s a very personal engagement of two souls painting musical art together.

Kirk Knuffke has long been called a rising-star cornet player but ‘Gravity Without Airs’ is not the work of an ascending artist but a completely developed musician.

Matthew Shipp’s compositional skills are standout on his trio’s latest collection ‘World Construct,’ usually an approach that is at once very captivating and idiosyncratic.

An instrumentalist of the highest order, Michael Bisio is underrated as a leader and composer. ‘MBefore’ is but the latest instance where he excels in those areas as well.

A lot of jazz records are about compositions and chops. Michael Bisio and Matthew Shipp’s ‘Flow of Everything’ is more about the connectedness between two very creative musicians.

‘Inimitable’ is an intimate solo acoustic bass recording where Michael Bisio seemed to have plowed ahead and played with a lot of heart and instinct with not too much forethought.

Michael Bisio, Kirk Knuffke and Fred Lonberg-Holm are artistic rebels as Robert Henri was, but their music isn’t outside just for the sake of being outside.