Matthew Shipp Quartet Pastoral Composure (Thirsty Ear, 2000)
Reviewed by Micah Holmquist
April 24, 2000

Matthew Shipp (piano),
Roy Campbell (trumpet, pocket trumpet, flugel horn),
William Parker (bass),
Gerald Cleaver (drums),

Pianist Matthew Shipp went into the Seltzer Sound studio in New York City on January 6, 1999 to record the nearly great DNA with William Parker on the upright as his sole accompaniment. DNA was released the following May and at the time Shipp said that he did not plan to make any more recordings as a leader. In interviews, he left open the possibility that he would lead sessions again sometime in the unforeseeable future but it was clear that he did not view this as merely a brief respite. Fortunately the hiatus did turn out to be quite brief and one year to the day after the recording of DNA, Shipp returned to the same studio along with Parker, trumpeter Roy Campbell, and drummer Gerald Cleaver to record Pastoral Composure.

The above similarities notwithstanding, this is actually a very different session than DNA. Shipp has gone to great and admirable lengths to distinguish his style from that of Cecil Taylor but, like Taylor, Shipp has usually made music that was beautiful on the intellectual level far more than it was in the visceral plane. DNA fit this description to a t as the only departures from the Shipp’s intensely deliberate poundings and Parker’s thrashing on the bass strings were purposely straight forward and unimaginative readings of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and "Amazing Grace" that respectively, and respectfully, bookend the disc. Not so with Pastoral Composure which opens with "Gesture" and the marching rhythms of Cleaver. Best known for his worth with saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and guitarist Joe Morris, Cleaver seems to dictate the flow of this entire piece. His busy yet ultra-rhythmic work on the skins, and the snare in particular, keep the piece going in a relatively logical manner. Shipp soon joins him and keeps a busy pulse that alters slightly and nicely over time. Seemingly beneath the tune, Parker delivers heavy, if not always up front, bass lines. Campbell and his horn reside on the opposite end of the spectrum, as they seem to be soloing throughout the entire track. This works out just fine, however, as Campbell is a fascinating soloist who doesn’t clash with his band mates. His playing might be the first to attract the untrained or undisciplined ear but it won’t distract listeners who want to focus on one or more of the other three.

The most immediate impression of "Gesture" is not the fine musicianship -such is to be expected from the given players- but rather just how accessible the music. There is no reason why the non-commercial jazz radio sector could not play this right after Miles Davis and before Sonny Rollins. Sure the sound is a bit heavy and dark but it never gets overbearing. Campbell’s trumpet might get a tad searing and snarl more than listeners will expect but it doesn’t do this very often and the extent to which it happens is small. The music never reaches the point of the full blow out status and the track ends nearly as quickly as it began at less than seven minutes.

And should even the few avant sprinkles on display disqualify "Gesture" from such airplay, a radio programmer need only forward to the next two tracks. From Shipp’s glistening piano lines to the backbeat and pulse of Cleaver and Parker to the soling of Campbell, the track, "Visions," is pure bop. Next comes Shipp doing a solo reading of Duke Ellington’s "Prelude to a Kiss." This one of only two compositions out of the nine that appear here which Shipp did not write which appear and while in the past -most notably on 1998’s The Multiplication Table- Shipp has done extensive reworkings of Ellington pieces, "Prelude to a Kiss" is quite reverent and would not be out of place with even the most mainstream of Duke tributes.

Still it would be a mistake to say that the four have discarded their roots in music on the edge. The title cut, which comes up next, is just over four and half minutes of pure orchestral build up in release. The wonderful pace and crescendos along the way of Cleaver’s cymbal rolls are what stands out the most here. The disc continues to progress by weaving its way in and out of the mainstream and the avant-. Campbell’s and Shipp’s clear lines during solos propel "Progression" into straight bop territory much like "Visions." The childhood classic "Frere Jacques" is the most disjointed of the any of the tracks. It begins with the theme and the players return to it regularly but, in the mean time, they go all over the map with seeming abandon. "Merge" is nearly a straight driving climb with little attention paid to what is left in the wake while "Inner Order" is a vehicle to highlight the talents of Campbell and Parker. Finally the disc closes with the solo piano piece "XTU" where Shipp displays both his classical and jazz influences. Unlike many of the other tracks, this piece exists firmly on the "outside" but at the same time there is no dissonance involved so it remains fairly accessible.

Pastoral Composure is actually the first in "The Blue Series" line from Thirsty Ear. Shipp is the director of this new line which in the words of Thirsty Ear founder Peter Gordon "will, hopefully, challenge, probe, excite, and perhaps even anger listeners as we try to strip away conventions with a new convention." Some writers are already saying that this release has done this. In a review for allaboutjazz.com, Nils Jacobson says "Pastoral Composure ranks as one of the most significant works in the history of free jazz." This is probably going a bit far. Pastoral Composure does an excellent job of showing that these four players, who are usually on the edges of jazz, can play more conventional music and, perhaps, more importantly, do so compellingly. It is not clear, however, whether this will be a session that deserves many hours of study.

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