Pianist Matthew Shipp and double bassist William Parker are among the most vital musicians to have hit the scene in any genre in the last half century. It is easy to argue that, on their respective instruments, there is no one better. On November 6, two releases by this duo make the case for their exceptional qualities. One is Zo, an explosive set originally released in 1994 and reissued by ESP-Disk on vinyl for the first time, along with compact disc and digital. The other is the astoundingly communicative A Whole System Of, a brand-spanking-new encounter available through TAO Forms, also on LP, CD, and digital.
Over 30 years have passed since Matthew Shipp and William Parker first entered a studio to record Zo as a duo, and if so much of the world has changed during that period, and not for the better, with the arrival of A Whole System Of, there is at least the reliability of Shipp and Parker’s creative cyclone stirring things up with so much dexterity. That’s not to infer that the partnership is static. Recognizable, most certainly, but predictable, no.
Shipp and Parker had played together a fair amount prior to Zo. There is a pair of earlier Shipp LPs, Points (a quartet) and Circular Temple (a trio), both recorded in 1990 and released in ’92 by the Silkheart and Quinton labels respectively. They were also in the band of saxophonist David S. Ware for four discs on Silkheart and DIW issued between 1991 and ’93.
The association exploded after Zo, but there were only two more duo recordings in the stretch leading up to A Whole System Of. The first was DNA, released in 1999 by Thirsty Ear, and the third Re-Union, released by Rogueart in 2021. Those two other duo sessions were documented: DNA five years after Zo, and Re-Union five years before A Whole System Of, reducing much of the aura of special occasion that might surround the latest duo team-up and replacing it with the reality of perseverance and growth.
There is a youthful intensity to Shipp’s playing on Zo that situated it as something of a big splash for the pianist, even as that was surely not the intent. Parker had been on the free jazz scene since the early 1970s, but Shipp’s first album, Sonic Explorations, a duo with saxophonist Rob Brown, came out in 1988 on Cadence Jazz.
Shipp’s rise to prominence was gradual as he was unconcerned with appearances and image promotion. Once the tape was rolling, he let the music speak for itself, focusing on solidifying his personal mode of expression and honing the clarity of his chosen dialogue. The interactions that comprise Zo—three titular numbered pieces and a plunge into the Gershwin standard “Summertime,” surely land on the extreme end of the spectrum, but they also explore logic that extends from prior pianistic groundbreakers in jazz.
If a person has heard a dozen free jazz records and two of them are by Cecil Taylor, then the conclusion, if Zo is record number 13, will likely be that Shipp sounds a lot like Taylor. But if a person soaks up a few dozen recordings each by Taylor and Shipp, the verdict should be that the two pianists are markedly different. Zo, for instance, has numerous nods to Thelonious Monk and Andrew Hill. The verdict even at this relatively early stage for Shipp is that his energies were distinct. And if intense, Zo has numerous contemplative and even lyrical passages.
As a double bassist, Parker is simply in a class by himself, partly through longevity while maintaining a high standard that comes into sharpest focus on small group, duo, and solo recordings. As his playing is integral to the classic status of Zo, so it remains for A Whole System Of. His arco work in the opener “Deeper Fields” is just mind-slaying as Shipp’s chords ascend and descend with precision that’s almost stately until he and Parker merge into momentary white-heat cauldrons.
The interactions are methodical, an aspect that’s felt more deeply simply due to the time these two individuals have spent creating together and then contemplating their finished works while apart. “Notions of Order” flows forth with that exquisite energy, but there is also a clear sense of control that allows for a pivot into some fantastic cyclical maneuvers later in the piece.
The title track (available on the download accompanying the vinyl purchase) really dives into Shipp’s unique combo of angularity and melodicism. All the while, Parker is bouncing and bounding and bowing like a titan of rhythm and momentum and friction. The session’s longest track, “A Whole System Of,” is followed by “Momenta,” a concise abstract sprint of stomping, note spillage, and circularity.
“The Essential Blue Note” opens with a beautiful rumble thicket from Parker alone before Shipp enters with some warmly contemplative motions. There is a multiplicity of fascinating progressions throughout and likewise across A Whole System Of’s final piece, the thunderous and fleetingly locomotive-like “Wave Light non Form.” Midway through, there is a Jaki Byard-like curveball, a late twist in another album of sheer interactive magnificence from this indispensable pair.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
Zo
A
A Whole System Of
A
