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

The first encounter of tenor sax boss Rich Halley and the Matthew Shipp Trio worked out so well, they quickly decided to do it again.

No matter how free or straight it’s played, ‘The Unidentifiable’ is always eloquent, audacious and artful. The Matthew Shipp Trio continues to set the standard for the modern jazz trio of our time.

Rich Halley’s encounter with the Matthew Shipp Trio is no East Coast meets West Coast kind of thing, just a meeting of great minds that think alike.

Rich Halley’s inspired collaboration provides the visionary interplay, the spirituality and, yes, the flair for melody that are hallmarks of both sides.

Matthew Shipp returns to his trio, using a common setup to make music that’s uncommonly advanced and stimulating.

Here’s an exclusive stream of “Flying Carpet”, from the Matthew Shipp Trio album ‘Piano Song’ to be released January 27, 2017 on Thirsty Ear Records.

‘Piano Song’ leaves one last example on Thirsty Ear Records of the high standard set by its A&R guy Matthew Shipp for other artists to strive toward.