Matthew Shipp Trio

Steve Swell/Matthew Ship
Space Cube Jazz
RogueArt CD ROG-133

After about 30 years on the international Jazz scene New York-based pianist Matthew Shipp continues to come up with new configurations in which to express variations on his compositions and improvisations. The title of New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz may be a bit of a stretch for the pianist who has been recording that way since 1992. But veterans bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Barker have fused with him into a distinctive ensemble. Space Cube Jazz though is both an anomaly and a surprise. Although they’ve been part of the same musical gestalt for years, this is the first time Shipp and trombonist Steve Swell have ever recorded together.

The Shipp/Swell disc is also recorded in most revealing contexts: a dozen stripped-down improvisations with only Swell’s multi-accented brass inventions and Shipp’s responsive keyboard extensions featured. Hurtling from basement pitches to skyscraper ones, and giving equal space to speedy triplets and half-valve smears, the trombonist is particularly expressive throughout. As is the pianist. Shipp’s sympathetic expressions encompass the pretty and the pressurized in equal measure. At one point he may sprinkle his playing with exquisitely fragile elevated tones then turn around and emphasize pedal point expression as well as soundboard echoes.

Except for brief unaccompanied tracks from each, the stellar duo devotes most of the disc to anticipating or reacting to each other’s forays. The interaction evolves in two ways. “Ice and Water” and the concluding “Space Hammer”, for instance, are more dramatic and responsive. On the first Swell’s mid-range brassy shakes torques higher as Shipp’s constant patterns propel the piece forward. On “Space Hammer”, a dramatic horizontal line from the trombonist moves from relaxed to rugged accompanied by keyboard clips and occasional inner piano vibration until bent note brass blasts are completed by energetic key pounding.

Away from formalism or filigree, the title track and “Dark Matter” default to Blues inferences. The latter proves that mid-range dynamics can cement a climactic statement when it’s built out of elongated puffs and scoops from Swell and tolling keyboard expressions. “Space Cube Jazz” mixes brass tongue stops and tailgate slurs with cadenced piano rhythms that quickly evolve to emphasized key ricocheting, with the two nearly replicating the sound of early Blues players.

Meanwhile the trio session may promise new concepts, but one of the most moving tracks is “The Function”, which relates to bedrock  Blues, especially during Bisio’s contributions. Set up with a hard and heavy string thumps, Shipp responds in kind with feints, shuffles and ambulation, adding to the Blues feel with shaded pressure then story-telling pings in the highest register as Barker nerve beats and the bassist’s walking stings retains the cerulean coloration.

Exploring the space between the keys as a leitmotif, Shipp decorates his expositions with keyboard clangs and pedal point rumbles to relate to Bisio on “Brain System”. His expressive processional pumping and measured chording provide a contrapuntal challenge to Bisio’s passionate outflow, expressed with poignant string squeaks and descending drones.

Maintaining the triangular expression during the eight Shipp compositions, Barker’s cross pulses, clip clops, pops and pressure add rhythmic impetus to the tunes. While the pianist and bassist usually express thematic material, the drummer’s repeated patterning adds coloration and direction to the performance tapestries. This is maintained whether the exposition races at breakneck speeds through pressurized chording and prestissimo bass string thumps or unrolls meditatively with slithering patters and hesitant responses.

Juddering between these extremes, the receptive development which characterizes the final “Coherent System” is an example of moderated cohesion. Walking turns to marching and then sprinting as group patterns vary. Although the finale is made up of harder and heavier variations, a penultimate group crescendo expressive the variations and connections which the three have aimed for throughout the disc. Insightful sounds on each disc, each project also pinpoints Shipp’s many attributes and understanding links with other players.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Space: 1. Flashes 2. Electric Tip 3. Ice and Water 4. Firmament 5. Space Warp 6. Space Cube Jazz 7. The Dumb Abyss 8. Stairways 9. By and By 10. Dark Matter 11. String Theory 12. Space Hammer

Personnel: Space: Steve Swell (trombone) and Matthew Shipp (piano)

Track Listing: New 1. Primal Poem 2. Sea Song 3. The Function 4. Non Circle 5. Tone IQ 6. Brain System 7. Brain Work 8. Coherent System

Personnel: New: Matthew Shipp (piano); Michael Bisio (bass) and Newman Taylor Barker (drums)