Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Matthew Shipp: Codebreaker
Matthew Shipp: Codebreaker
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.
Track Listing
Codebreaker; Spiderweb; Disc; Code Swing; Letter From The Galaxy; Green Man; Raygun; Suspended; Mystic Motion; Stomp To the Galaxy; The Tunnel.
Personnel
Matthew Shipp
pianoAlbum information
Title: Codebreaker | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Tao Forms
About Matthew Shipp
Tags
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Become a Sustaining Member
Since 1995, All About Jazz has championed jazz as an art form and supported the musicians who create it. Over three decades, it has grown into one of the world's leading jazz resources, serving hundreds of thousands of readers, musicians, presenters and industry professionals each month.
Help Build the Future of All About Jazz
Your support helps us continue building All About Jazz for the next generation—expanding our editorial coverage, preserving jazz history, developing new community features and creating better ways to discover the music and the people behind it.
Become a sustaining member for as little as $20 per year and you'll immediately enjoy an ad-free experience along with access to subscriber features and future articles for a full year.
Together, we're not simply sustaining All About Jazz—we're building its future. Thank you for being part of the journey.
