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Shipp / Lowe / Baker / Ray at Le Poisson Rouge

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By Karl Ackermann
August 13, 2018
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Shipp / Lowe / Baker / Ray
Le Poisson Rouge
New York, NY
August 11, 2018

Bring together

Matthew Shipp

piano
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Matthew Shipp,

Newman Taylor Baker

percussion

" data-original-title="" title="">Newman Taylor Baker,

Allen Lowe

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Allen Lowe and

" data-original-title="" title="">Kevin Ray and you have more than an inspired music event; this is a living history that—by professional extension—covers the study of the earliest American music to the creation of the most modern creative jazz. On August 11, 2018, Le Poisson Rouge in New York's Greenwich Village played host to Shipp/Lowe/Baker/Ray, a cooperative group that formed in 2017.

Le Poisson Rouge occupies a significant footprint in jazz history. The Village Gate opened here in 1958 and over its thirty-eight-year run, it played host to legends such as

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane,

Coleman Hawkins

saxophone, tenor
1904 - 1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Coleman Hawkins,

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington,

Dizzy Gillespie

trumpet
1917 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Dizzy Gillespie,

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans,

Dave Brubeck

piano
1920 - 2012

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Brubeck,

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus,

Sonny Rollins

saxophone
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Rollins,

Dexter Gordon

saxophone, tenor
1923 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Dexter Gordon,

Art Blakey

drums
1919 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Blakey,

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis, and

Nina Simone

piano and vocals
1933 - 2003

" data-original-title="" title="">Nina Simone. Le Poisson Rouge—like its predecessor—offers a mix of genres with jazz occupying a smaller segment than the previous venue. But Le Poisson Rouge is also a multi-cultural experience offering world music and an impressive space for visual art.

The Quartet

Shipp, a Delaware native who has been a New York City resident for more than thirty years, needs little introduction having come to prominence in the 1990s as part of the

David S. Ware

saxophone, tenor
1949 - 2012

" data-original-title="" title="">David S. Ware Quartet. Best known as a free jazz/avant-garde composer and pianist, Shipp's body of work as a leader is as diverse as it is deep and he has incorporated electronics, hip hop and classical elements into his inimitable modern creative music. Shipp-led groups have included such luminaries as

William Parker

bass
b.1952

" data-original-title="" title="">William Parker,

Mat Maneri

viola
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Mat Maneri,

Wadada Leo Smith

trumpet
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Wadada Leo Smith,

Hamid Drake

drums
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Hamid Drake,

Joe McPhee

woodwinds
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe McPhee,

Susie Ibarra

percussion
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Susie Ibarra,

Evan Parker

saxophone, soprano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Evan Parker and

Roscoe Mitchell

saxophone
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Roscoe Mitchell. An extensive share of Shipp's catalog is dedicated to recordings with Brazilian saxophonist

Ivo Perelman

saxophone, tenor
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Ivo Perelman, beginning with Bendito Of Santa Cruz (Cadence Jazz Records, 1997). During Shipp's long tenure with Thirsty Ear Records, he served as both a prolific artist and the label's Artistic Director.

Gerald Cleaver

drums
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerald Cleaver had been the planned drummer for this show but due to scheduling conflicts Baker stepped in and excelled as a late replacement. Following the show Baker told me that he is undaunted as an eleventh-hour, go-to resource since being called on for that role with the

Heath Brothers

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Heath Brothers in his early Philadelphia days. The percussionist has worked with

Henry Threadgill

woodwinds
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Henry Threadgill,

Billy Bang

violin
1947 - 2011

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Bang,

Henry Grimes

bass, acoustic
1935 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Henry Grimes,

Leroy Jenkins

bass, electric
1932 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Leroy Jenkins among other notable progressive artists, and has collaborated a number of well-known choreographers. His solo percussion release, Drum -Suite—Life (Innova, 2010) drew wide critical praise for its inclusion of global influences and a broad, inventive array of styles.

There are few facets of the music world that haven't been mastered by composer, saxophonist, and occasional guitarist

Allen Lowe

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Allen Lowe. He has recorded with

Roswell Rudd

trombone
1935 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Roswell Rudd,

Julius Hemphill

saxophone, alto
1938 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Julius Hemphill,

Don Byron

clarinet
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Byron,

David Murray

saxophone, tenor
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">David Murray, among others, written four historical books on early music, worked in sound restoration and served as the former Director of Jazz New Haven. His three-disc box set Blues & the Empirical Truth (Music & Arts Programs, 2011) featured Shipp and other jazz greats.

Bassist Kevin Ray has recorded or played with

John Stubblefield

saxophone
1945 - 2005

" data-original-title="" title="">John Stubblefield,

Oliver Lake

saxophone
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Oliver Lake,

Greg Osby

saxophone
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Greg Osby,

Andrew Hill

piano
1931 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Andrew Hill,

Marty Ehrlich

woodwinds
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Marty Ehrlich,

Elliott Sharp

guitar, electric
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Elliott Sharp,

John Hicks

piano
1941 - 2006

" data-original-title="" title="">John Hicks,

Hamiet Bluiett

saxophone, baritone
1940 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Hamiet Bluiett and

Nels Cline

guitar, electric
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Nels Cline. Ray has performed in the premieres of works by

Joe McPhee

woodwinds
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe McPhee,

Leroy Jenkins

bass, electric
1932 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Leroy Jenkins and others. His most recent recording as a co-leader was with

Frank Lacy

trombone
b.1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Lacy and

Andrew Drury

drums
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Andrew Drury on the live 10??K trio release, That Which Is Planted (Passin' Thru Records, 2013). Shipp and Ray have a further connection to Lowe having appeared together on the saxophonist's Constant Sorrow label releases Ballad for Albert, We Will Gather When We Gather, I Alone: The Everlasting Beauty of Monotony (all 2015) and Mulatto Radio: Field Recordings 1-4 (2014).

The Show

Shipp/Lowe/Baker/Ray performed four spontaneously improvised and untitled pieces over the course of approximately ninety minutes. With the exception of Lowe's introductions of the members, the music was uninterrupted. Ray opened the set with a bass solo before the rest of the group jumped in, quickly ratcheting up the intensity. About twenty minutes in, the quartet settled down to some gentler solo time, the group rejoinder momentarily taking on an ethereal air. Baker's brilliant solo began the second piece and the overall feeling was loose and free. Lowe's saxophone alternated between viscous and subtle and Shipp alternated nuance with thundering grooves and scorching improvisations. Ray again led in the third number, this time with a beautiful extended solo on a piece that had him alternating between plucking and the bow. The closer features Lowe's brief initial solo which morphed into a duet with Shipp. Here, Baker demonstrated that no part of the drum kit is off limits as he tapped, rapped and turned loose waves of sound.

There is not a method that this quartet hasn't long mastered but technique did not overshadow musicality in this show. While there were moments of obsidian forcefulness, these were welcome as a balance to some amazingly sophisticated and measured free improvisation. These accomplished and imaginative musicians have not been working together for long (in Baker's case, not at all) so it is a testament to their understanding of subtleties and their overall musical experience that made this Le Poisson Rouge performance a remarkable outing. The group—presumably with Cleaver on drums—is likely to offer some recorded music in the future. Let's hope that is the case.

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