Jazz Articles about Matthew Shipp

About Matthew Shipp

Album Review

Matthew Shipp / William Parker: Duo

by Dan McClenaghan
October 21, 2026

Pianist Matthew Ship has always been cryptic. His music does not fit into categories. And though he may not boast a Sun Ra-level of recording prolificness, he is always, always busy. And if his output as a leader ever wanes, he sits in on sideman slots with tenor saxophonists David S. Ware and Ivo Perelman (and more) with dizzying regularity. Now for the cryptic aspect: Call him an artist of cosmic consequence. He seems to think so himself. ...

Album Review

Ivo Perelman: Synesthesia

Read "Synesthesia" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
August 3, 2026

Like past gatherings of tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman, pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William Parker, and drummer Bobby Kapp, inscribed to memory on the highly touted Ineffable Joy (ESP, 2019) and Heptagon (Leo Records, 2017), Synesthesia erupts into consciousness with a punch and flurry. Feverish by design, “First Color Heard" stays true to its title and to the heart of each participant. Rambling, rumbling, reaching for the stars, Perelman exhorts his fellow travelers, and “First Color Heard" fills the airspace ...

Album Review

Ivo Perelman: Armageddon Flower

Read "Armageddon Flower" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
August 8, 2025

Pianist Matthew Shipp serves as the fulcrum of Armageddon Flower, a riveting quartet date that unites two longstanding units: the duo with tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman, and his String Trio with violist Mat Maneri and bassist William Parker. However, no-one is confined by past roles. Each of these four players has collaborated in multiple configurations over the last three decades. So four known quantities perhaps, but the familiarity here breeds neither complacency nor predictability. What emerges is a daring, combustible ...

Album Review

Ivo Perelman: Armageddon Flower

Read "Armageddon Flower" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
July 29, 2025

Ekphrastic by design, Armageddon Flower, the forty-seventh bold, forward-thinking testament pairing saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp is the duo's new zenith in a tireless exploration dating back nearly thirty years. It is another view from the pinnacle of their brotherhood that includes such watermark recordings as the symbiotic Live In Nuremberg (SMP, 2019), Fruition (ESP, 2022), Magical Incantations (Soul City Sounds, 2024) and the fanciful, Brazilian flavored Bendito of Santa Cruz (Cadence, 1996) which started it all.

Multiple Reviews

Matthew Shipp: On The Ascent

by Doug Collette
July 23, 2025

The simultaneous release of two markedly different efforts documents pianist/composer Matthew Shipp's arguably inevitable ascent into the upper echelons of contemporary jazz. The man's rise to prominence has been inexorable to be sure, but all the more laudable for the slow but steady nature of his journey. As such, the arc of Shipp's career not surprisingly mirrors his musicianship: virtually without exception, playing alone or with others, he invariably takes his time to explore the possibilities of the material as ...

Album Review

Matthew Shipp: The Cosmic Piano

Read "The Cosmic Piano" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
July 4, 2025

Pianist Matthew Shipp has a mathematical side: The Multiplication Table (hatOLOGY, 1998) and The Piano Equation (Tao Forms, 2020) hint at this. He has a metabolic side: DNA (Thirsty Ear, 1999) and Right Hemisphere (Rogueart, 2008). And he has a solar system side: Gravitational Systems (hatOLOGY, 2000) and New Orbit (Thirsty Ear, 2001). And finally, though there is more, he goes into cosmic modes, on Cosmic Lieder (AUM Fidelity, 2011) and the disc at hand, The Cosmic Piano, a solo ...

Album Review

Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp String Trio: Armageddon Flower

Read "Armageddon Flower" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
June 3, 2025

Saxophonist Ivo Perelman's albums come at us relentlessly. He is prolific. Multiple albums per year is his norm. His approach is, more often than not, sound and fury, signifying... what? It is hard to say. Of his Armageddon Flower he says: “Listening to this music is akin to reading the Book of Revelations in the Bible." Armageddon Flowers sounds like a search for truth, a deep quest for Rama or the Holy Ghost, the workings of the intricacies ...