Jazz has fallen a long way from its ‘60s-era, hell-raising fury. With his new album Nu Bopp, pianist Matthew Shipp is apparently trying to reclaim some of the fire, but he only manages to hold a lighter in the air as a cheap reminder. Shipp probably thought that he could garner some innovation points by adding electronic weirdo FLAM to the rhythm section. Truth be told, FLAM’s drum machine additions are usually appropriate, if infrequent. But in the end, FLAM certainly doesn’t save anything, and Shipp has no one but himself to blame.
The opening track (and stupid pun) “Space Shipp” exemplifies most of the work on Nu Bopp. Shipp hands the boards to FLAM for a few measures of crunchy, distorted drums before the rest of the band makes an appearance. Shipp then takes the lead with big piano chords that fall far short of capturing a feeling. His ensuing freeform solo is doomed by the intro theme’s preemptive boredom, and the song sinks.
The title track follows next. After a brief elevator music wail from sax player Daniel Carter, the rhythm section gets down to business. Bassist William Parker and drummer Guillermo E. Brown build up a nice thunder around a twanging bassline, and it sounds as if FLAM eventually enters the fray to add some thump.
Sadly, the rhythm section’s hip-hop-influenced fury is once again spoiled by the lead parts. Carter’s early saxophone wails were only a prelude, and he returns with a solo that he probably considers “haunting.” It sucks, however, and if ears could see, he sounds like the camera filter on a dream sequence.
Consider briefly the “squonk,” the shrill honking noise used by John Coltrane and others throughout the ‘60s. It sounds like the racket which ensues when someone sucker-punches a goose, or maybe a donkey. Carter should at least move in this direction. While the squonk is harshly climactic, the sax work on Nu Bopp avoids any conflict more challenging than a soap-opera domestic spat. After 30 seconds, everyone has met his or her long-lost children, all the sordid affairs are out in the open and the listener is ready to vomit.
But “Nu Abstract” is a new low. A cheap parody of early experimental electronic records, the song adds nothing to the record. FLAM’s synths spread like a puddle across the low end while Shipp showcases the index-finger-only approach to piano. Parker bows his bass for a while, and you forget that the CD is playing. Try as they might, Shipp and company just can’t pull off anything bizarre without sounding like the recipe was copied wholesale.
Of course, the record does have other tracks, including a bland piano solo and a let’s-frolick-in-the-woods flute-and-bass duet, but they are of little consequence. Far more interesting is whether or not jazz musicians and so-called “intelligent dance musicians” such as FLAM will join forces once again. It makes sense?they’re both snooty, and they have the potential to complement each others’ styles without having to worry about territorial infringement. So, an episode such as this will likely go down again. And it has potential?people like FLAM know how to make relevant music, but don’t know how to actually play any traditional instruments, while people like Shipp have the opposite problem. All they have to manage to do is tie each other’s shoelaces. Don’t hold your breath.
