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Frode Gjerstad with Matthew Shipp: We Speak

By John Sharpe
January 14, 2024
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Frode Gjerstad with Matthew Shipp: We Speak

While the combination of reedman

Frode Gjerstad

saxophone, alto
b.1948

" data-original-title="" title="">Frode Gjerstad—the godfather of Norwegian free jazz who dwells about as far from the so-called Nordic sound as you can get—and pianist

Matthew Shipp

piano
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Matthew Shipp -whose lineage can be traced back through what he terms The Black Mystery School, which takes in

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk,

Mal Waldron

piano
1925 - 2002

" data-original-title="" title="">Mal Waldron and

" data-original-title="" title="">Randy Weston among others—might seem unlikely, it makes perfect sense when you hear it. From the first piece "About Music" on, it is clear that this pairing is not only uncompromising and mercurial, but also simpatico.

In fact the distance between the two (notwithstanding the 5500+ kilometers between Stavanger and New York City) is not as great as it might appear. Although Gjerstad inhabits the territory of European improv mavens like guitarist

Derek Bailey

guitar
1932 - 2005

" data-original-title="" title="">Derek Bailey and reed iconoclast

Peter Brötzmann

woodwinds
1941 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Br?tzmann, he has also entered productive partnerships with bassist

William Parker

bass
b.1952

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

Hamid Drake

drums
b.1955

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

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman alum, trumpeter

Bobby Bradford

trumpet
b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobby Bradford, which brings him much closer to Shipp's orbit. Nor is We Speak their first recorded encounter. That was the unexpectedly compassion-filled date documented as Season Of Sadness (Iluso Records, 2019), in the company of cellist

Fred Lonberg-Holm

cello
b.1962

" data-original-title="" title="">Fred Lonberg-Holm.

Like another frequent Shipp associate saxophonist

Ivo Perelman

saxophone, tenor
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Ivo Perelman, Gjerstad exhibits a marked affinity for the upper registers, particularly on clarinet. But, if anything, he sets them within an even more abstract discourse. Gjerstad favors a throaty growl which can zigzag into falsetto tracery. But he also shows himself capable of bursts of near melodic tenderness and sequences of false fingered bleats and muffled tones which suggest vulnerability and frailty. In inimitable style, Shipp's internal barometer swings wildly between thunder, sunshine, frost and showers, but nonetheless has the effect of grounding Gjerstad closer to the jazz vernacular.

While there is nothing resembling a prearranged unison or harmony here, there is an abundance of shared cadences and agreement in terms of mood and pacing. Those moods constantly morph, with two sometimes opposing impulses often combining to create a more unsettled and ambiguous tone overall. That is aided by the pleasing contrast between Gjerstad's altissimo squeals and Shipp's pounding bottom end, especially notable on the final "About Peace," but a recurring feature throughout. The longest track, the 12-minute "About Conspiracies" proves especially plastic, traversing not only peaks of high drama but also vales of delicacy. Their intensity comes tempered by passages of surprising sensitivity elsewhere too, stepping gingerly on "About Equality," as if tiptoeing over thin ice.

Across the eight studio cuts Gjerstad and Shipp negotiate a rigorous balance between empathy and agency in ways which are consistently stimulating and unpredictable, but most important of all, enjoyable.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

About Music; About Hearing; About Freedom Of Expression; About Conspiracies; About Minorities; About Equality; About Silence; About Peace.

Personnel

Frode Gjerstad

saxophone, alto

Matthew Shipp

piano

Additional Instrumentation

Frode Gjerstad: clarinet

Album information

Title: We Speak | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Relative Pitch Records

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