Matthew Shipp: Invisible Light – Live São Paulo

Think About seeing someone perform with what looks to you like effortless joy. It may be how they glide across a stage, evenly cutting carrots, or nonchalantly pocket a foul ball. I hope you have noticed Matthew Shipp’s studied casualness these past thirty-plus years of music making. His entire oeuvre of recordings and performances have set about achieving the goal of what the Chinese call wu-wei, which translates metaphorically into “not trying” or “not doing.” In sports, when a shooter is on a hot streak and seemingly can’t miss, we call that being “in the zone.” For a surgeon, a writer, or a painter we might describe the act of losing one’s self as a “flow state.” Jazz improvisation has often been cited by neurologists as a classic example of a flow state… [ read more ]