Thesis (Matthew Shipp and Joe Morris album)

Thesis is an album by the American jazz pianist Matthew Shipp, featuring a duo with guitarist Joe Morris, recorded in 1997 and released on the Swiss hatOLOGY label. Shipp played previously with the Joe Morris Ensemble on the album Elsewhere, but Thesis represents their first collaboration with Shipp as a leader.

Thesis
Studio album by
Released1997
RecordedJanuary 23, 1997
StudioSeltzer Sound, New York City
GenreJazz
Length63:27
LabelhatOLOGY
ProducerArt Lange, Pia & Werner X. Uehlinger
Matthew Shipp chronology
By the Law of Music
(1997)
Thesis
(1997)
The Multiplication Table
(1998)

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings    [3]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide     [1]

In his review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek states: "What exists between them is a fiery lyricism replete with staggering arpeggios, colorful digressions of dualistic chromaticism combined with the stagger-and-lurch method of self-discovery in the midst of heated contrapuntal improvisation."[2]

In an article for the Boston Phoenix, Ed Hazell wrote that "the pair seem guided not by conscious design but by more mysterious and powerful forces. Which isn't to say there's not a high level of conscious artistry present in this darkly beautiful, even majestic, album."[4]

Track listing edit

All compositions by Matthew Shipp
  1. "Thesis" – 4:08
  2. "Fable" – 5:39
  3. "Simple Relations" – 3:41
  4. "Particle 1" – 3:43
  5. "The Wand" – 3:49
  6. "Action and Reaction" – 5:22
  7. "Center Of" – 5:33
  8. "The Turnpike" – 5:35
  9. "Form of Y" – 4:22
  10. "Broader Orders" – 8:01
  11. "Particle 2" – 4:41
  12. "The Middle Region" – 4:18
  13. "Our Journey" – 4:35

Personnel edit

References edit

  1. ^ Brackett, Nathan (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. The Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Fireside. pp. 732. ISBN 0743201698.
  2. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. Matthew Shipp – Thesis: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  3. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1293. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  4. ^ Joe Morris gets around by Ed Hazell at Boston Phoenix