Album: Matthew Shipp

New Orbit, Thirsty ear

Pianist Shipp's slow, elegiac tunes are heavy on textural effects and pleasingly light on thrashy noise. As the quartet (featuring veteran trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith) rarely play together, the recording is full of space and moments of quietly intense beauty. If you had to recommend a starting point for someone interested in finding out about contemporary jazz, this could be it.