Matthew Shipp (born December 7, 1960) is an Americanfree jazzpianist. Shipp has been very active in the 1990s, appearing on dozens of albums as a leader, sideman or producer. His dense, percussive style was often compared to Cecil Taylor's, though in recent years Taylor's influence is less pronounced.
Shipp was raised in Washington, DC and began playing piano at six years old. He was strongly attracted to jazz, but also played in rock music groups while in high school. Shipp attended the University of Delaware for one year, then the New England Conservatory of Music.
MatthewShipp calls this release for Thirsty Ear’s Blue Series “a synthesis of what I’ve learned from all my other Blue Series albums.” In many ways, it does seem to represent a bit of a consolidation after the very modern way forward demonstrated on Shipp’s previous album, Nu Bop.
Shipp claims that this recording, while it continues to explore the fusion of new beat and DJ elements with the language of modern jazz, also works to develop a “jazz ambient music” as well as exploring the elasticity of the music’s very language.
Shipp borrows from all of these forms, and others as well, breaking down their language into elements and then reassembling those elements into something not-quite-familiar yet not without precedent.
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