Symbol Systems

by Thom JurekIn 1995 most folks were still equating Matthew Shipp with Cecil Taylor because of his occasionally percussive method of improvisation, but Shipp was already in the studio proving them wrong. This solo recording of 14 short- and medium-length pieces (the longest piece here, "Flow of Meaning," is only seven minutes and 14 seconds) shows a very introspective composer and improviser exploring textural as well as tonal worlds, and employing this complex yet haunting, beautiful harmonic framework into play in a sequence of tunes that explicate his methodology better than even the Hat album by The Law of Music. Shipp isn't looking at sound on any of these pieces so much as he's looking for the font of sound itself. On "Self-Regulated Motion," he's breaking down the diatonic system one chord at a time and cleverly creating an alternate modality. On "Clocks" he takes a gradual approach to reworking the chromatics of the entire lower register of the keyboard. On "Harmonic Oscillator" he begins by combining the left-hand techniques of Bud Powell and the rhythmic ideas of Herbie Nichols to complete a bridge of tonal chromatics and contrapuntal ostinato. In other words, there is no meditation that Shipp isn't undertaking here. And none of it is academic. There is real soul and beauty in this music, true warmth and character in its dynamic and dramatic reaches. Symbol Systems is a recommended place for those who are interested but unfamiliar with Shipp as a pianist, improviser, and composer to discover why, along with Marilyn Crispell, he is the most exciting pianist in music.