Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Matthew Shipp Trio: The Unidentifiable
Matthew Shipp Trio: The Unidentifiable
ByShipp is consistently brimming with new ideas, even where the style is familiar. There are strong Latin influences on "Regeneration" and hints of the same on "Blue Transport System," but each is inclined toward Shipp's singular eclecticism. The title track is a striking hard bop number featuring strong solos from Bisio and Baker. Baker gets two solo numbers with "Trance Frame" and the forty-second "Virgin Psych Space." On the latter, he delves into a myriad of sounds from a single tom. There are mood-shifting pieces such as "Phantom Journey" and "Dark Sea Negative Charge," both starting pensively then taking off into unorthodox territory. "The Dimension" and "Loop" are more challenging listening; jagged, with quirky melodic passages. The ten-plus minute "New Heaven and New Earth" is full of angular drama played out like an avant-garde suite.
As Shipp continues to build his uncommon lexicon for the format, The Unidentifiable openly draws on the archaeological building blocks of the genre. The enterprising improviser discards none of the heritage or theories he's absorbed but leans towards dissonant elucidations and wide-ranging expansions. The interactions with Bisio and Baker are as good as it gets in piano trios. The Unidentifiable is a rewarding experience and highly recommended.
Track Listing
Blue Transport System; Trance Frame; Phantom Journey; Dark Sea Negative Charge; The Dimension; Loop; The Unidentifiable; Virgin Psych Space; Virgin Psych Space; Regeneration; New Heaven and New Earth.
Personnel
Album information
Title: The Unidentifiable | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: ESP Disk
< Previous
Take Five with Jeff Reed