Matthew Shipp Live in Cleveland + CD Review: William Parker/Matthew Shipp - Re-Union

The last eighteen months has really magnified the importance of live performances to me. (That much should be obvious from the last few posts that have appeared here, regarding Bob Mould and James Brandon Lewis.) So if a Matthew Shipp performance in Cleveland coincides with a day off from work, with no Pittsburgh stop on this tour, it's clear that a road trip is in order. Which is exactly what I did yesterday. 

The Bop Stop, the non-profit jazz space that looks a lot fancier that its status might imply, was the locale for the show. Arriving on the early side, I was determined to get a seat where I could see Shipp's hands as he performed because he has a signature approach to the piano and it adds an extra element of excitement when you can see it happen. However, next time I need to remember to find a seat that places me at more of a 90-degree angle from the piano, in order to see both hands clearly. 

A Matthew Shipp set, especially a solo one, consists of a continuous suite, figuratively speaking. One tune flows into another with plenty of improvisation coming amidst all of it. Snatches of melody might sound familiar, recalling one of his many albums or from a previous show. When a standard theme pops up, it might also seem like one he's recorded before, even if you haven't heard it. As he plays, Shipp looks a bit like he's in a trance, completely devoting himself to the music, knowing exactly where he wants to go next, or where his improvisation will take him. That all happened last night.

Decked out in blue jeans, a blue shirt and a pair of Reeboks, Shipp frequently moved both hands over the keys in a rapid manner that almost looks like he was dusting them off. But instead of gathering clustered keys together, both hands were interacting, sometimes one right on top of the other, sometimes with the left hand playing a snatch of a boogie idea while the right developed little cells of melody. Occasionally it felt tense, but that tension was always followed by release.

His newest solo album, Codebreaker (which will be released officially next month), there aren't as many thundering bass note jabs that often punctuate Shipp's work. He has admitting feeling more introspective, channeling the feeling of Bill Evans (of whom he is a fan). That delicacy was often in place last night. At the same time, he maintained an edge, frequently locking onto a mid-range chord, hammering away on it several times for a different kind of emphasis. (The tune in question might have been "Green Man" from Codebreaker, though I can't say for sure.) 

When he played the Matt Dennis standard "Angel Eyes" (which appears on the Russian-released album Creation Out of Nothing), he used the entire keyboard to reveal the full drama of the song's lyric. (When done right, this song is a very blue tale of heartbreak.) In the final chorus, his left hand built up a march that made it even more ominous - until the bridge restored the lightness of it. 

A similar approach came up during the old warhorse "Yesterdays." He constructed lines with several staccato jabs, moving through melodic fragments of all shapes and sizes. Another piece later in the set sounded a bit like "Meditations For Moses," a piano solo that Charles Mingus created spontaneously on Mingus Plays Piano that had a groove to its opening line. But that could be me reading into it. 

Following his set, Shipp took part in a Q&A with Matt from the Bop Stop, taking questions from the audience. When asked about how his set is constructed the pianist described how one tune "is like your crazy uncle, one is like your annoying aunt that no one likes,' and how the set is a way of "trying to balance everything out."

William Parker - Matthew Shipp

Re-Union

(RogueArt) roguart.com/product/re-union/179

Before hearing that Shipp was playing Cleveland, I had plans to review Re-Union, the recently released set of duets with his longtime friend and collaborator William Parker (bass). Like Shipp, Parker is having a particularly fruitful year in terms of albums. AUM Fidelity released Painters Winter and Mayan Space Station earlier this year. And both friends appear with drummer Whit Dickey on the Village Mothership set, which TAO Forms released last week.

As far as duets go, though, this is the first that Parker and Shipp have done in over 20 years. The last time they teamed up, the year was 1999 and the album was DNA (notable also because it was the first time that Shipp said he was going to stop making albums). Having worked together in the David S. Ware Quarter and Roscoe Mitchell's Sound Factory, these two already have a deep rapport. 

Re-Union evokes the famous story of Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus getting into a deep conversation backstage before playing a set. Realizing that it was time to play, one told the other, "Let's continue this discussion on the bandstand," understanding that, even though they were adhering to changes, the music they played was much deeper than that. 

This recording took place in a studio rather than on a bandstand but the discussion still runs deep. The title track begins with the pianist and bassist playing what almost sounds like a groove, already deep into the conversation. Throughout its 22 minutes, things pull apart, with one player unleashing a rapid string of notes while the other holds back, then doing the same thing while the first one steps back. This alone is worth the admission price, but the nearly hour-long set includes "The New Zo" (a nod to a previous duet album) and "Further DNA" which both feature some uninhibited bowing by Parker. "Song of Two" gets a bit more contemplative, perhaps leaning on that lyrical side that Shipp explored on Codebreak and at last night's show.

While it might be hard for some to determine where to start with all the albums both players have released this year, Re-Union ranks as one of the mandatory picks.