The seminal Matthew Shipp String Trio reconvened in late 2024 in order to commune with tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman in studio. Armageddon Flower is the epic result.

This album is a peak gem of improvised communication in each of their extensive and astonishing bodies of work, revealing new ways of exemplifying tradition, language, physics, material, and energy. A profound work presenting such communication at a very high level indeed.

Since 1996 Perelman & Shipp have recorded numerous albums together in duo and small group settings. But as Shipp is careful to point out, “there’s only one Matthew Shipp String Trio.” At the turn of the century, this Trio struck out on a path to redefine “Third Stream” chamber jazz via two very well-received Hat Hut CDs.

A quarter century later, this new work clearly builds on extensive, musically interwoven personal history. For Shipp, “William and Mat are as close to my natural soul brothers as you can get – and by soul I mean the soul. Ivo is another layer of that same soul.” Perelman’s copious studio dates – beginning with his self-titled Ivo (1989) – are a continual refinement and study in process whether or not they share personnel, and countless gems reside in his vast body of work.

And thus, Armageddon Flower is a singular gem in the entire body of improvised music.

1. Pillar of Light
2. Tree of Life
3. Armageddon Flower
4. Restoration

This elegantly crafted, most devotedly sculpted new musical masterpiece opens on the all-encompassing, organically world embodying 16-minute Pillar of Light and then proceeds to bring us the intensely sonic Tree of Life, before the set rounds out on the melodious, veritably chorale title track Armageddon Flower, coming to an all-too-soon close on the curatively contemplative Restoration.

While there are sections of duo and trio interaction, the focus here is on four-way conversation in which parallel streams become oceans of sound, only to be distilled into isolated rivulets once again. Without a drummer but with forward motion and bounce, the music operates in a continuous flow of both impulsion and idea.

It’s unquestionable that this is music of necessity, of striving, and of possibility. Perelman had this to say about the album’s title and what these four musicians share: “Listening to this music is akin to reading the Book of Revelations in the Bible. I called it Armageddon Flower as an attempt to instill some hope amidst the hysteria of the times and contemplating our own extinction as a human species. This music has drama but also has the light of being saved, of the savior, whoever or whatever that is.”

Official Purchase Link

Matthew Shipp @ Bandcamp