Matthew Shipp Trio’s Signature

on ESP-Disk’
Reviewed by John Payne

The rather prolific Matthew Shipp is the most relevant jazz pianist of the last few decades. With more than 85 releases of bold ’n’ brave music as a solo performer and in duo/ trio/quartet formats alongside the avantish jazz likes of the David S. Ware Quartet, Ivo Perelman, Sabir Mateen, Darius Jones, Joe Morris, Jemeel Moondoc, Mat Walerian and two tons of others, he hasn’t had time to take a vacation. Several years ago Shipp told me he was thinking of retiring from recording, because, he said, there was just too much music out there in consumer land. I’m glad he didn’t, because his recorded output since spouting such balderdash has only grown more profound — and truly electrifying.

Recorded in first takes with his current trio (bassist Michael Bisio, drummer Newman Taylor Baker), Shipp’s new Signature album is, like much of his work of the last three decades, not an easy thing upon which to put one’s finger. But we’re talking here about a semi-improvised music played on piano, bass and drums, so let’s call it free jazz and get that outta the way. And the piano trio is no doubt the language in which Shipp communicates best; it allows him to reference the ghosts of jazz past in a way that gives you and him something to lean on — he summons Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell in substantial ways; a more superficial ear would place him in the Cecil Taylor “school” of doing things; there’s major chunks of Henry Cowell in it as well.