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Matthew Shipp, "Nu-Bop"
So - Matthew Shipp knows how to play traditional jazz and fusion. Whichis to be expected, because what good is a free-jazzer who can't swing?But that doesn't stop 'Nu-Bop' from being pretty boring.
This CD ispart of the Thirsty Ear "Blue Series," which Shipp curates, and theband is primarily made up of the regular crowd - Shipp on piano,William Parker on bass, Daniel Carter on reeds, and Guillermo E. Brownon drums. Also on board is co-producer FLAM on "synths andprogramming." The styles on the album run the jazz gamut, from thefusion funk of "Space Shipp" (there's also a "Rocket Shipp," howclever) to the 'I'm-gonna-sound-like-Monk' solo piano piece "ZX-1" tothe quiet moody jazz of the Carter/Parker duet "X-Ray." Everybody knowsthat Shipp and co. are all incredible instrumentalists, so of coursethese guys can play these pieces and make it work. But at their best,these songs sound like a pretty good house band at a hip lounge. Attheir worst, they sound like circa-1993 attempts at jazz-hop (though inShipp's defense, at least he didn't go so far as to hire a guestrapper). We are made to think that the presence of FLAM (yes, it'salways in all caps for some reason) on "programming" is going to takethese earlier idioms of jazz to some sort of new horizon (hence thetitle 'Nu-Bop'), but his contributions mostly add up to a bunch ofquirky squeaks and crunches mixed in with Brown's drumming. The mostridiculous FLAM contribution is "Select Mode 1," in which Shipp'splaying is looped over a cheesy dance beat for a minute and a half. Themost interesting part of the disc is the phasing between Shipp andBrown at the beginning of "Select Mode 2," ironically. This disc hasbeen widely praised recently, and I'm not sure why. It may be thatpeople think that if Shipp and co. made a more traditional album thenit must be good, considering their status as gods in the jazz worldtoday, but it's really not a very interesting listen and definitely nota high point for any of the musicians involved.
This CD ispart of the Thirsty Ear "Blue Series," which Shipp curates, and theband is primarily made up of the regular crowd - Shipp on piano,William Parker on bass, Daniel Carter on reeds, and Guillermo E. Brownon drums. Also on board is co-producer FLAM on "synths andprogramming." The styles on the album run the jazz gamut, from thefusion funk of "Space Shipp" (there's also a "Rocket Shipp," howclever) to the 'I'm-gonna-sound-like-Monk' solo piano piece "ZX-1" tothe quiet moody jazz of the Carter/Parker duet "X-Ray." Everybody knowsthat Shipp and co. are all incredible instrumentalists, so of coursethese guys can play these pieces and make it work. But at their best,these songs sound like a pretty good house band at a hip lounge. Attheir worst, they sound like circa-1993 attempts at jazz-hop (though inShipp's defense, at least he didn't go so far as to hire a guestrapper). We are made to think that the presence of FLAM (yes, it'salways in all caps for some reason) on "programming" is going to takethese earlier idioms of jazz to some sort of new horizon (hence thetitle 'Nu-Bop'), but his contributions mostly add up to a bunch ofquirky squeaks and crunches mixed in with Brown's drumming. The mostridiculous FLAM contribution is "Select Mode 1," in which Shipp'splaying is looped over a cheesy dance beat for a minute and a half. Themost interesting part of the disc is the phasing between Shipp andBrown at the beginning of "Select Mode 2," ironically. This disc hasbeen widely praised recently, and I'm not sure why. It may be thatpeople think that if Shipp and co. made a more traditional album thenit must be good, considering their status as gods in the jazz worldtoday, but it's really not a very interesting listen and definitely nota high point for any of the musicians involved.
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