Sonic Fiction

After a duo album and two trio albums by Shipp and Walerian, all for ESP-Disk', we get a quartet album from them that continues their strategy of working with different musicians each time out. Bisio and Dickey are long-time collaborators with Shipp, but the addition of Walerian's Zen style changes the dynamics of their interactions. Walerian and Dickey, masters of restraint, were a match waiting to be made, and their instant rapport is one of the attractions of this album.

Track List:

01. First Step                        3:24

02. Blues Addition              6:23

03. The Station                    5:53

04. Lines of Energy             4:02

05. Easy Flow                      5:39

06. The Problem of Jazz    5:00

07. The Note                       0:17

08. 3 by 4                              6:25

09. Cell in the Brain            5:33

10. Sonic Fiction               11:23

Total time                          53:59

http://soundcloud.com/esp-disk/04-lines-of-energy

Matthew Shipp, piano

Mat Walerian, alto saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet

Michael Bisio, bass

Whit Dickey, drums

Press Quotes:

“One would be hard-pressed to find a Matthew Shipp quartet recording as democratically executed as Sonic Fiction… offered as a framework of dialogic expression, a music of ideas communicated, exchanged, and put forth directly and intimately. […] Sonic Fiction marks a new phase for Shipp as its evolves from his previous outings with Walerian (and his numerous dates with saxophonist Ivo Perelman on Leo) toward a shared multivalent lingual space where musical equations are stated, re-examined, and ultimately balanced before they emerge as a new sonic terrain.” – Thom Jurek, AllMusic Guide

“Shipp does not believe in ‘jazz’ per se; the wide-ranging music he plays…will sound like jazz to many, but in keeping with ESP tradition, it subverts definitions and expectations in service of creating magic with sounds. For those unfamiliar with Walerian, the Polish reed player, who has three previous ESP recordings with Shipp, his playing will trigger a sense of wonder.” – Derk Richardson, The Absolute Sound

"Matthew Shipp has become an elder statesman in the jazz world. How that happened can be boiled down to two simple elements. One: he has created a unique sound and language for improvised music and two: Shipp has become a doyen of cutting edge music making and opinion." – Mark Corroto, All About Jazz

"[Walerian] is one of the most talented young jazz musicians on the Polish scene, if not THE most talented." – Maciej Lewenstein, Polish Jazz Recordings and Beyond

"The reed work of Mat Walerian really warms up the piano of Matthew Shipp here – as Mat provides these beautiful lines on alto, bass clarinet, flute, and soprano clarinet – which have a resonant quality that really seems to open up Shipp's music too! We've really moved back towards enjoying Shipp in recent years – and the sense of persona in records like this is a good reason why – almost a renewed soul that we haven't heard in years, unlocked in the right setting like this." – Dusty Groove

"Amazing sympathetic piano-sax interaction. Often somber, sometimes blues-inflected, sometimes explosive." – rotfest.com

"Live in Okuden exemplifies the possibilities of the duo. Shipp is in great form and the album is a nice introduction to Walerian's imaginative playing." – Paul Acquaro, freejazzblog.org

"[D]espite featuring the nimble, expressive, and yes interesting and evocative fingers of pianist Matthew Shipp, Live at Okuden really gets its mood, and thus its mojo, from the bass clarinet, alto sax, soprano clarinet, and flute playing of Mat Walerian." - Paul Semel, CultureCatch.com

Musicians: Matthew Shipp / / Mat Walerian / Michael Bisio / Whit Dickey