Matthew Shipp: Codebreaker

An intrinsic value in Matthew Shipp's music is his insight into the language of his chosen profession. The processes that have led to one hundred years of change in jazz are embedded in his compositions and improvisations. More than a dozen solo piano albums into his thirty-five-year recording career, Codebreaker, Shipp's latest such effort, furthers his exceptional amalgam of spontaneous improvisation and historical authenticity. More concise than many of the pianist's projects, the compact pieces serve to highlight the expressive content of several performances, intensified by Shipp's moderation.

The content on Codebreaker is more euphonious than the pianist's recent solo outings, but it is a relative correlation. The album is more melodic, but it is so through Shipp's lyrically oblique worldview. He lets listeners discern that for themselves if there is a more resounding theme across the eleven compact tracks. Still, the transition from the tranquil opening title track to "Spiderweb" and then "Disc" depicts a loose trajectory. By the time we get to the second half with "Green Man," logic has developed. Shipp has cracked the combination, and we can hear the pieces falling together in the pin tumbler. When Codebreaker concludes with "The Tunnel," it is with an exhalation of relief.

Shipp is doing more than creating music; he regularly preserves part of jazz heritage in danger of being pulled out from under its creators. In that process, his influences are many, some celebrated and others lost to history. The brilliance of his creations is that Shipp never sounds as if he is taking his cue from anyone. There is dignified intelligence and warm, if elusive, appeal in Codebreaker. While it may be Shipp's most accessible solo work to date, that should not be mistaken for a less challenging listen.

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