By The Law of Music

Matthew Shipp's version of jazz is one that accommodates mysticism, and so a conversation about music with him will always yield the word "puzzle". He talks about his work as math, as formula, as metaphysics...By the Law of Music was conceived as a twelve-part suite, or, in the composer's words, a "kinetic grid"... With unnerving slow-motion, Maneri always seems to be leading somewhere, he makes you anticipate the future. Parker, a reactive player, embodies the immediate present by encompassing different worlds of pitch and rhythm into his playing, collapsing registers to access surprising notes. And Shipp is a naturally reflective musician. I have always come away from hearing him remembering the afterglow of chords more than the attack. — Ben Ratliff