Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Matthew Shipp Trio: Root Of Things

Matthew Shipp Trio: Root Of Things

By Mark Corroto
February 24, 2014
View read count

A mathematical equation can chart and explain everything in life, from the arc of a thrown baseball to the dynamical systems of chaos. The scientific study of deterministic chaos is a bit of an oxymoron, in that the mathematicians suggest everything can be graphed and explained by calculations. The theory being, the deeper you delve into any system, the clearer and more uncomplicated it becomes.

The same can be said for the music of pianist

Matthew Shipp

piano
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Matthew Shipp. Like the music of

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk before him, what once sounded complicated and indecipherable reveals itself through immersion into its depths.

He gives us a bit of a musical Rosetta stone by way of the trio recording Root Of Things with bassist

Michael Bisio

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Michael Bisio and drummer

Whit Dickey

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Whit Dickey>. Perhaps, in this traditional triad setting, clarity is accomplished. Shipp has worked with Dickey as far back as 1990—Circular Temple (Infinite Zero, 1992) and Prism (Brinkman, 1993) and now with Bisio in this new trio. Their previous releases were a live recording, Art Of The improviser (Thirsty Ear, 2011) and studio session, Elastic Aspects (Thirsty Ear, 2012). The trio also collaborated with saxophonist

Ivo Perelman

saxophone, tenor
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Ivo Perelman's on his stellar disc The Edge (Leo Records, 2013).

The levitating nature of the opening track finds the piano gliding over the bucolic background painted by Dickey's streaming drums and cymbal flavors. The piece meanders, unoccupied by time constraints, in a meditative structure. Shipp's notes are cast in patterns, unrecognizable at first, but then they seamlessly find an order. Same goes for "Jazz It," where Dickey and Bisio lay down a conventional groove for the pianist to expand on the jazz tradition of Monk,

Cecil Taylor

piano
1929 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil Taylor, and

Ran Blake

piano
b.1935

" data-original-title="" title="">Ran Blake.

Shipp's compositions find a sympathetic treatment with this trio. There is less push and more cooperation here than say, in duo or even in a solo setting. With a piece like "Pulse Code," that opens with Dickey's drum parade, the music maintains a soto voce. Shipp and Bisio enter three minutes into this four minute song, spinning notes that threaten entropy, but never end in disorder. Same for the disc's finale, "Solid Circut," which opens with a piano solo, a left-hand/right-hand tug-of-warring of notes. The tussle expands into trio, effortlessly enunciating Shipp's phraseology, making his locutions neither chaotic nor uncertain.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Root Of Things; Jazz It; Code J; Path; Pulse Code; Solid Circut.

Personnel

Matthew Shipp

piano

Matthew Shipp: piano; Michael Bisio: bass; Whit Dickey: drums.

Album information

Title: Root Of Things | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Relative Pitch Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Seven: Live @ Firehouse 12
< Previous

Mats ?leklint Quartet
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.