Matthew Shipp solo

Matthew Shipp was born in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1960 and moved to New York in the 1980s, where he became part of the city's free-jazz community alongside bassist William Parker. He played piano in the David S. Ware Quartet for close to two decades and, as artistic director of Thirsty Ear's Blue Series, put out records that mixed improvised jazz with electronic music and hip-hop producers.

Solo piano has been a steady part of his work, with albums such as One (2006) devoted to it. In this setting he moves between heavy low-register chords, abstract runs and fragments that sometimes point back to standards or gospel, building pieces at length and without a set plan.