After a duo album and two trio albums by Shipp and Walerian, all for ESP-Disk', we get a quartet album from them that continues their strategy of working with different musicians each time out. Bisio and Dickey are long-time collaborators with Shipp, but the addition of Walerian's Zen style changes the dynamics of their interactions.
Walerian and Dickey, masters of restraint, were a match waiting to be made, and their instant rapport is one of the attractions of this album.
"[Walerian] is one of the most talented young jazz musicians on the Polish scene, if not THE most talented." – Maciej Lewenstein, Polish Jazz Recordings and Beyond
"The reed work of Mat Walerian really warms up the piano of Matthew Shipp here – as Mat provides these beautiful lines on alto, bass clarinet, flute, and soprano clarinet – which have a resonant quality that really seems to open up Shipp's music too! We've really moved back towards enjoying Shipp in recent years – and the sense of persona in records like this is a good reason why – almost a renewed soul that we haven't heard in years, unlocked in the right setting like this." – Dusty Groove
"Amazing sympathetic piano-sax interaction. Often somber, sometimes blues-inflected, sometimes explosive." – rotfest.com
"Live in Okuden exemplifies the possibilities of the duo. Shipp is in great form and the album is a nice introduction to Walerian's imaginative playing." – Paul Acquaro, freejazzblog.org
"[D]espite featuring the nimble, expressive, and yes interesting and evocative fingers of pianist Matthew Shipp, Live at Okuden really gets its mood, and thus its mojo, from the bass clarinet, alto sax, soprano clarinet, and flute playing of Mat Walerian." - Paul Semel, CultureCatch.com
01. First Step 3:24
02. Blues Addition 6:23
03. The Station 5:53
04. Lines of Energy 4:02
05. Easy Flow 5:39
06. The Problem of Jazz 5:00
07. The Note 0:17
08. 3 by 4 6:25
09. Cell in the Brain 5:33
10. Sonic Fiction 11:23
Matthew Shipp, piano
Mat Walerian, alto saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet
Michael Bisio, bass
Whit Dickey, drums
