Matthew Shipp | Sabir Mateen | Sama | Not Two Records

Not Two, 2009 | MW 817-2 | CD

Sabir Mateen – reeds | Matthew Shipp – piano

Recorded March 10, 2009 at Roulette Studio, NYC. Engineer: Brooke Gillespie. Mixed and mastered by Rafal Drewniany, DTS Studio. Liner notes by Steve Dalachinsky. Cover art / design by Yuko Otomo. Produced by Marek Winiarski

Tracklist: 1. Sama One 2. Sama Two 3. Sama Three 4. Sama Four 5. Sama Five 6. Sama Six 7. Sama Seven 8. Sama Eight

SAMA = SAbir + MAtthew = SAMA = MS/SM = Matthew Shipp + Sabir Mateen = piano & clarinet = spontaneous composition + pure improvisation = SA as in SAlvation + MA as in the silence between things = DUO SAMA / SUITE SAMA INTUITIVE ARTICULATE SAMA. here tracks with slight pauses one after another recorded in Roulette in downtown New York City on a cold night with a sound engineer, me, Yuko, Matthew, Sabir, a piano, a clarinet & a room filled with emptiness to be soon filled to brimful with warmth, inSAnity & MAgic. like playing roulette or russian roulette, spin of the ball, spin of the chamber, click of the hammer, pull of the trigger, landing on the #. surviving the gamble…Odd. Even. Bullet > Music > projectile > SAmpling MAnna > knowing what one knows > years of intuiting beauty … SAck o’ MAndates… SAcred MAlleable(s) > SAcrosanct / MAnifold … ultimate risk … naked … condensed shake }ice hot sauce between poles… fulfilled by mutual admiration a roomful of murmurings POLE between players fried done trembling trebling quake pulse askew & skewered … we sitting here apart & part of an exclusive intimate membership / experiment solving instantaneously radical p[rob(l)e(m)s > proto based duo/form completing journey of sound thru making REAL music /// generating live wires + ensuing volumes of what comes naturally between 2 columns & windows in a year of projected collaborations meeting place for discreet microscopic nuances rumbling into stillnesses melding into an elementary landscape patterns of wood grain & soft engagement, knowledge long enhanced by trial & error sound surfing & immediate maturation of listening process pure undiluted where the swing line begins & ends high-lit by color composites sublime SAlient MAth without safety net programs released into figures gems nuances intimate integrated (meta)physical projections full bodied SPACE as in SAMA … 2 musicians who deeply understand each other’s inner lives hearts heads fingers melting halts lilting almost baroque dances feeling the seasons change cold to cool to warm blending in entangled air the study of color of tangled wire tangled in each other’s blues & greens signs of spring everywhere yet everywhere in this room shot from horn the ultimate highs & lows / primaries >solos<duos>SAMA fine elegant points retaining force being re(a)d seeing re(a)d veiled curtained low key dreamy apocalypse a tour thru the sweet dark at times like a train thru a tunnel smoke crowds departures arrivals frantic catch/miss caught waves signals never crossed but the crossing of languages as one(ing) rush hour all over the weird world then distance… netherness… ferocities 2 forming roots rooted deep > sustaining notes dizzy shields bridging brooks untying the seams of the instrument & what astrological sig(h)n are you (?) heavy struts false-bottomed repetitiveness(es) & quickly back to the lyrical side of things, this is exactly as it should be following their own inclinations/mannerisms never abandoning their artistry, as much plugged into as unplugging the circuitry that moves the channels up & down channeling & transforming the SAlutary MAlaise … reinventing the waltz … pronounced outside the post-bop post-swing = (Shipp)tradition+(Mateen)rendition = Music System + Simply Music = Substance As Matter Attained = SAMA > infinitesimal sustaining + SAMA as in SAMAdhi as is SAMA

night piles upon itself / the occasional passerby / minor comings & goings / the distant light of tunnel traffic heading back to Jersey / late evening Canal Street desolation / all noises transposed into 2 instruments / coinciding but never colliding / floating intangible plasma of changes / inseparable bio-rhythms / dueling / spinning the wheel / squeezing the trigger one minute ever so lightly the next with deep ferocity / barrel spinning / wheel spinning / hammer depressing / ball finding chamber… bullet finding number… & relief as the round ends boldly but bloodlessly / on & off of entrance lights illuminating the vacancies in blink & flash short circuiting the time capsule as red fall into red / 3 collapsing circles & a ballroom full of ceiling fans turning into acrobats, soothsayers & their reflections.

Mind Set
< all kinds of SAmpled MAps ^ no SAfe MArgins >
SAcrifice + MAnumit = SAMA
(the way things are)
State of Mind
A…………. A

Steve dalachinsky nyc 3/09


Pianist Matthew Shipp and multi-instrumentalist Sabir Mateen

make for fascinating duet partners on this album, which is an eight part suite of completely improvised music recorded at the Roulette Studio in New York City. While Mateen plays a battery of instruments from saxohpone to flute, it appears that he sticks to clarinet throughout this recording. The high woody sound of the clarinet makes from a fascinating contrast with Shipp’s often low and probing keyboard playing. Shipp’s piano playing is clearly articulated and patient whether his is laying down a foundation for Mateen to improvise over, or engaging him in a head-to-head duet. Shipp lays down beautifully stark and dark toned chords and notes, and Mateen swirls and probes them in a natural and organic way. There is nothing forced about the music, the two work together seamlessly with a common goal and strategy in mind. The suite builds logically through a series of dynamic moods and textures, from fast paced free improvisation to long and low abstractions of melody and form. Both musicians are patient and sympathetic duet partners and they make music that has an open ended muse and graceful poise.– “Music And More”, Friday, April 23, 2010

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