Matthew Shipp’s Steady Diet Of Improv And Hard News

By Dave Cantor I Jun. 17, 2020

The Tao Forms label recently issued its inaugural release, Matthew Shipp’s *The Piano Equation*.
(Photo: Anna Yatskevich)

So, improvising is an escape.

I don’t know what escape means. You can’t escape yourself, so trying to play yourself isn’t really an escape. The harsh reality that you can see the world presenting to you—music, or all art, is either a way to confront it or a way to transcend it. Or a way to transcend it by confronting it. I don’t know where I fit into that, but I do know that what I’m trying to get across to people when I play is something that is positive.

You know, I’m just trying to do my little part in all of this.

When we spoke before, I think you quoted Bruce Lee at some point, and I’ve seen you post stuff about boxing, wrestling and French author Jean Genet. That’s a huge diversity of interests. So, how do you assimilate all of that information?

Well, first of all, everything is information—everything is energy and vibration.

Everything is a spectacle, of sorts. And everything is coded with information. It’s funny you mention wrestling. Wrestling is a spectacle; it’s one of the oldest things human beings have done. It’s possibly the oldest sport. It’s a physical activity, the nervous system’s vocabulary of movements. All these things have an energy field of their own; they’re coded in our DNA. And DNA is information, and at the bottom of all of it is vibration or energy. So, whether you’re vibing off of boxing, wrestling, martial arts, politics, it’s all information—it’s all communication. And as a musician, every aspect of human existence is a school for you to learn something.

I just listened to a Billy Childs interview where he was talking about writing stuff that’s asymmetrical; I didn’t immediately connect that to your playing, but in my head it seems like it might apply.

Do you see anything out here in the universe that’s resolved perfectly?

Traditional songbook stuff, maybe? But a lot of that’s about unrequited love.

There’s a temporary agreement made among people that these rules work for this, but ultimately none of that has any universal applicability. If it did, every culture would have the same kind of resolutions—and they don’t. There are norms that are accepted for certain periods of time: Debussy doesn’t resolve in the same way Renaissance music does.

I am interested in resolutions, and they just might be more stretched, sometimes. I’m definitely interested in the ultimate harmonic. I mean, people just don’t hear it the same way I do.

I think it’s safe to assume that most of the jazz community votes Democrat, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about Joe Biden.

First of all, I’m from Delaware. My parents lived 15 minutes from Joe Biden, so he’s been a part of my whole life, because he was our senator.

As a person, I adore him. As a politician? He’s a throwback to another era, and when this cycle started, I was a big Elizabeth Warren supporter. I understand some of the reservations on the left. He is a throwback, but he’s a genuine person, and he listens. That’s the most important thing. And that’s maybe what’s needed now—not a firebrand on the left, but somebody that’s willing to listen to all people.

His platform’s going to be one of the most progressive that anybody who’s ever run for president has had.

Do you think that’s a function of him as a person or the imperative of winning?

First of all, he’s an empathetic person. He made some statements earlier in his career about gay marriage that would make it seem that he would get in the way. But he might be the one politician that brought it the furthest when he forced Obama’s hand on it.

He’s very sincere about listening and trying to evolve with the times. This is kind of weird—and I was upset when Elizabeth Warren didn’t do well in the primaries. But he might be what this time and this zeitgeist is calling for. DB