For those who read 2021’s biography of bassist William Parker, Universal Tonality, there might be no better follow-up than a book about pianist Matthew Shipp. Author and close friend Clifford Allen fills that need with his excellent new tome Singularity Codex.
The book is not a biography per se, but rather an examination of Shipp’s many albums released on RogueArt, which is just one of many labels he has worked with throughout his career. Yet Singularity Codex examines so many aspects of his life and the scene around him that it is not only indispensable to anyone trying to come to a deeper understanding of his work but also for those wanting to study the avant-garde jazz scene of New York City’s Lower East Side.
The book is divided into three sections. The first places Shipp’s work into a historical continuum and delves into his background. At first, Allen offers a musical history of the Lower East Side and introduces us to many of the characters who are so crucial to Shipp’s life and work. Of course, frequent collaborators are involved — William Parker, Rob Brown, Whit Dickey, and Joe Morris among others — but there are others who figure in the story. These include close friend and poet Steve Dalachinsky and his widow Yuko Otomo, RogueArt founder Michel Dorbon, and Lower East Side musical visionary Jemeel Moondoc and his foundational group Muntu.
After a couple of chapters of exposition, Allen then utilizes one of the book’s most important devices, the interview. The reader learns about Shipp and his musical universe through the words of those in his orbit. William Parker speaks about his first encounters with Shipp, what he noticed about his playing, and how their relationship has evolved. Rob Brown goes back even further, diving into their days in Boston before either had moved to New York. These men both witnessed Shipp’s development as a player and composer firsthand.
The second section examines the philosophical and spiritual underpinnings of Shipp’s music. This proves to be perhaps the most fascinating if not the most challenging section. Allen opens with a discussion about Shipp’s relationship to language, pointing out that despite the fact that most of his music is instrumental, there is great value in examining his song titles. Allen quotes Shipp’s own writing, from his collaborative book with Dalachinsky, and from his own 2013 interview with the pianist. Particularly telling is the following quote:
“So the whole idea of playing music, to me, is a kind of metaphysics of how the brain generates rhythm and language, and that’s my whole thing. There’s nothing else for me.”
Allen then moves to discussions of Kabbalah, mystical Christianity, and poetry, all critical pieces of Shipp’s creative DNA. This section briefly touches on Jean Genet, the subject of the 2006 album Salute to 100001 Stars, a RogueArt release that will be featured again later in the book.
The only interview in this section, outside of the excerpt with Shipp, is with Otomo, a visual artist and poet who has provided artwork for several of Shipp’s releases.
The third section addresses the RogueArt releases more directly. Once again, Allen begins with some exposition but quickly moves on to two interviews. He first interviews RogueArt founder Michel Dorbon, who recounts his history with Shipp and discusses his legacy with the label. Even more interesting is the next interview, with Jim Clouse, the owner and engineer at Park West Studios. Having worked on a number of recordings with Shipp, he provides an almost fly-on-the-wall perspective of those sessions. This may give the reader the most intimate view of the musician at work, his focus, and a peek at his demeanor.
At this point, the book discusses each of Shipp’s RogueArt releases in turn, starting with 2004’s Salute to 100001 Stars and concluding with the still-to-be-released Sonic Lust album, which has Shipp performing as part of the Ivo Perelman Quartet. Over the course of roughly eighty-two pages, twenty-five albums are examined, and each description reads like a combination of review and history lesson. We learn how the players came together and how their voices interact on the recordings. We see Shipp on some records working with the usual suspects (Brown, Parker, Morris) and on others with less frequent collaborators such as Evan Parker and Nate Wooley. While this part serves as a perfect listening companion to the albums, they are fascinating even while read without the records at hand.
What might truly be awe-inspiring about Singularity Codex is that while it purports to only discuss Shipp’s work on RogueArt, it feels like a lot more ground is covered. Yet one also begins to grasp that several more books could be written before the pianist’s vision and work could really be done justice. And that is Matthew Shipp‘s brilliance; each improvisation unlocks a new tome in his sonic language and any author attempting to capture his music in a text is engaging in a commendable if not impossible task. Nevertheless, Clifford Allen‘s Singularity Codex is an indispensable book, rich with insight and detail and a must for any true fan.
—Todd Manning
