Here's a twist that's full-on bent:
Matthew Shipp
making funky
avant-garde jazz
. It's true that, like
Sun Ra
on his
Lanquidity
album in the late '70s,
Shipp
has decided to add programming and synths to his mix for this disc, to at least walk a tightrope between
improvisational
art and the music of the street. For any of you groaning as you read this, give it up -- this disc is one of
's very best and one of the first really new things to come across on the American
jazz
front in over a decade. The band is comprised of
on piano,
William Parker
on contrabass,
Daniel Carter
replacing
David S. Ware
on saxophone and flute,
Guillermo Brown
on drums, and
FLAM
on synths and programming.
's methodology is one of shifting rhythmic hypnosis and
modal
inquiry along scaled intervals and striated harmonic pathways that lead through the middle registers of both the saxophone and the piano.
"X-Ray"
is a keen example of how
employs an ostinato line that changes itself ever so slightly in each chorus, is treated by
with tweaked programming moves that underscore the rhythmic line, and allows
Parker
to roll around the changes between
Carter
and
. In other places, such as on
"Space Shipp,"
which opens the album, the funky line sets the pace for a six-chord thematic statement by
.
lays in the cut with
Brown
, allowing the
funk
and roll to slip dramatically into a hypnotic groove that flows into
's solo. Rather than a flurry of middle- and upper-register notes and chords,
concentrates on establishing intervallic patterns that dig deeper into the thematic material and "deepen the
," if you will, by modalizing its context. The disc closes with
"Select Mode 2,"
an angular off-minor
move with interplay and polyrhythmic accents by
over a 5/8
samba
figure as
close ranks with the extensions of line and syntax in repetitive phrases that revolve around the rhythmic construct and move beyond it without leaving the groove. This is truly a new way of approaching
, a new way of hearing the intricacies of rhythmic counterpoint and textured harmonics that syncopate the entire methodology of composition and
improvisation
into a holistic view of the music as pulse and force.
has clearly outdone himself this time, and the
Blue Series
that he coordinates on
Thirsty Ear
continues to be one of the bravest and most exciting series of recordings in
today. ~ Thom Jurek