Creative Music Works and Dazzle Jazz present Matthew Shipp / Micheal Bisio

Tim Wenger | July 1, 2015

Celebrated pianist and jazz innovator Matthew Shipp comes to Denver along with Micheal Bisio on bass.

Matthew Shipp and Michael Bisio will perform on Saturday, July 25, 2015 for two shows, 7 and 9 PM, at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln St. in Denver. Tickets are $22.00, general admission and are available on the Dazzle website: www.dazzlejazz.com or by phone at 303-839-5100.

In a 1999 interview, Shipp had this to say about where he fits in the spectrum of composers and pianists: “…the jazz avant-garde seems like you can incorporate anything into it, like a melting pot, within your own style. I personally have grown up listening to a lot of different things and have been influenced by a lot of different things. I approach the music as music, not as the various genres. So, I’m not trying to make a music that’s a mixture of this or that, but a lot of this or that is in it.”

Michael Bisio tells Creative Music Works that the music he creates with Shipp can be best described as follows: “The point where the Spirit and letter of the tradition meet is where Matthew and I begin. There is no other artist I feel so in tune with. Conceptually I think our mentors fostered very similar aesthetics; to know what was, to find your own voice, and if possible, move this music forward. For us there was never a choice between being a jazz musician or a creative one…. They are the same thing!”

Shipp has played with many greats in jazz and new music, including David S. Ware, William Parker, DJ Spooky, and Roscoe Mitchell. His performances as leader and sideman have been recorded on more than 50 albums since the late 1980s. Shipp and bassist Michael Bisio are known for their remarkably intricate interplay and dazzling live performances. Shipp’s powerful playing connects directly to the playing of Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, and Cecil Taylor, yet his playing is lyrical, introspective, and fully of the 21st century.

Bassist Michael Bisio has played on more than 60 recordings since his career began in 1980. He has played with Joe McPhee, Tomas Ulrich and many others. Bisio has been playing with Shipp since 2009. Tomajazz.com described him as “a poet of the contrabass.” Cadence Magazine has described his playing to be “produced by sorcery.”