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Michael Bisio Quartet: MBefore
by Karl Ackermann
In the dark days of Covid and the lingering return to normality, only a handful of musicians managed to be prolific. Fewer remained relevant. Bassist & composer Michael Bisio is among the more productive artists, with half a dozen releases during the pandemic. Add to that collection MBefore, with the bassist's new namesake quartet. The album was recorded at Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, New York, in March 2021, and includes liner notes by Matthew Shipp. The group comprised some top—if ...
Continue ReadingWhit Dickey / William Parker / Matthew Shipp: Village Mothership
by John Sharpe
Village Mothership presents a constellation of stars which first assembled some three decades ago. Although released on drummer Whit Dickey's Tao Forms imprint, on this 2020 studio date the trio, completed by bassist William Parker and pianist Matthew Shipp, manifests as a cooperative effort, unlike their first appearance on Circular Temple (Quinton, 1990) under Shipp's leadership. As well as being the pianist's trio of choice for several years, the threesome was also 75% of esteemed saxophonist David S. Ware's classic ...
Continue ReadingWhit Dickey / William Parker / Matthew Shipp: Village Mothership
by Mark Corroto
If drummer Whit Dickey, bassist William Parker, and pianist Matthew Shipp were a rock band, we might expect them to cover their classic album Circular Temple (Quinton Records, 1992) an LP, later re-released on the Infinite Zero label in 1994. Of course they are not a rock band, but If they were, we probably would demand they perform the music on Circular Temple in the exact same manner as it sounded three decades earlier. But that's just not the way ...
Continue ReadingMatthew Shipp / Whit Dickey: Reels
by Karl Ackermann
Matthew Shipp has managed his way through the 2020-2021 pandemic nicely, thanks in part to a substantial cache of excellent material. Free-jazz drummer Whit Dickey has been working with Shipp for decades, beginning with David S. Ware's quartet. Since 2012 Shipp and Dickey have worked frequently with Brazilian saxophonist Ivo Perelman. Dickey has been part of Shipp's trio and, in 2020, the pair teamed for a duo/trio release, Morph (ESP Disk). The duo debut was half of a double-disk set ...
Continue ReadingIvo Perelman Trio: Garden Of Jewels
by Jerome Wilson
Garden of Jewels is an apt title for this CD. It contains music that is luminous and multifaceted like a jewel, sparkling from many different angles. The musicians here, saxophonist Ivo Perelman, pianist Matthew Shipp and drummer Whit Dickey all developed individual sounds out of the musical freedom principles pioneered in the Sixties, and have played with each other before on several occasions. Perelman and Shipp have teamed up for many recordings and Dickey has worked with both men, together ...
Continue ReadingIvo Perelman Trio: Garden Of Jewels
by Mark Corroto
The subtitle of the Ivo Perelman Trio's Garden Of Jewels should be The Pandemic Session. Recorded on June 17, 2020 in the midst of a pandemic when clubs and restaurants were shuttered and “six feet apart" was the clarion call of the moment, the music is a chronicle of the times. At least, that is the impression you would feel if you had lived through the COVID-19 scare. Wait a minute, no one reading this was/is immune from the deadly ...
Continue ReadingWhit Dickey Trio: Expanding Light
by Glenn Astarita
Highly respected, longtime New York City-based drummer Whit Dickey, frequent collaborator, and laudable alto saxophonist Rob Brown and young bassist Brandon Lopez consummate this trio's debut recording. As most would surmise, the musicians explore and refresh the peripheries of free jazz improvisation. Dickey and Brown's involvement with the always fertile NY improv scene is well-documented. Here, the band takes a democratic approach with close-knit interactions and formidable upfront asymmetrical grooves using space to impart breathing room and gradual ...
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