Matthew Shipp

• Harmony and Abyss [Thirsty Ear, 2004] A-

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Harmony and Abyss [Thirsty Ear, 2004]
My tastes in piano run to five-fingered banging, my tastes in ambience to rhythm massage. So although I've admired several of Shipp's many albums, Nu Bop especially, this one I identify with. The hard-driving "Galaxy 105" tinkles jazzily at times, and "Invisible Light" contributes a free interlude, but mostly Shipp and his certified-jazzbo drums-and-bass--plus, crucially, programmer FLAM--explore pulses and textures: all distinct, some quite jazzlike but most on the trip-hop side. Remember "acid jazz"? This is what it wasn't tough enough for. A-