By Sammy Stein
Imagine. The world has self-destructed. Armageddon. People were begging the
powerful to think, the bullies to rein in their power, and those who have
everything to share with those who have nothing, they didn’t listen. Greed,
power, desire, and a compulsion to control everything continued unabated
until eventually Armageddon happened. Not a surprise, not unpredictable.
Now there is nothing left. All is dark and still.
Apart from a single flower. Among the dark, hidden deep within the rubble
and detritus of what was once a beautiful world, is a flower – once named
in binomial Latin with a genus and specific epithet, but now simply the
Armageddon flower. Her body unfurls slowly, tentatively seeking out the
last tepid rays of sunshine that filter weakly through the dust and
sediments that swirl above the Earth.
Like angel rays, shafts of light caress this delicate little flower. The
rays deliver not only light, but also sound. The energy the flower needs to
grow relies not only on earthly components for photosynthesis – carbon
dioxide and water, but also on the energy music provides. At first tiny and
insignificant, her petals tightly furled, the little flower begins to
bloom, striving up toward the light, phototropism compelling the leaves and
stem upwards, geotropism pulling the roots deep into the soil, anchoring
her to the Earth, seeking out nutrients that remain, allowing the flower to
grow ever stronger.
The power of this music enables the flower to grow and bloom ever larger,
her golden petals casting a glow of hope and wonderful colour across the
Earth.
Sounds too much like a fairy story? Maybe, but this album was created in a
dream-like state, and the musicians felt truly drawn to create something
far greater than Mankind’s weaknesses and compulsions had allowed.
The music has a power of its own. Ivo Perelman and the Matthew Shipp Trio
are the perfect vessels to channel its power. The Matthew Shipp trio
comprises pianist Matthew Shipp (with whom Perelman has made over 40
recordings), bassist William Parker, and violinist Mat Maneri. All have
performed and recorded together. Teamed with Perelman, who brings the music
together with his tenor saxophone, and like the others, shows fearless
musical exploration and intuitive interpretation.
Improvised music delivered by inexperienced musicians can be introvert,
relaying nothing to the listener but the awkwardness of a musician trying
to convey a message but not understanding how they and their instrument are
a vessel whose purpose potentially has a higher calling than any teaching
can give, if only they immerse and subject their spirit to what happens
when they interact with others. Here, then, is the ultimate lesson in doing
just that.
On ‘Armageddon Flower’, each musician brings their immense experience,
understanding, and connection to each other and those who listen truly. The
lengthy tracks have time to develop, discuss, and seek an unfolding of the
layers to enlighten and inspire others.
The intensity of this music is almost shocking – and so it should be, based
as it is on the possibility of Mankind’s self-destruction and also a
seeking to understand what lies ahead in the eternity that awaits us all.
From the beginning of civilisation, Womankind (and Mankind) has been
struggling with the inevitability of their death, and many philosophers
have considered the destructive nature of our species. In this music, the
destructive sits alongside the hope, the ultimate beauty and power of even
the tiniest scrap of life left, to flourish, blossom, and scatter the
darkness aside, as it grows in power.
All four musicians are fearless in pursuit of perfect communication. On
Armageddon Flower, the impossible is possible, what is out of reach is
close at hand, and what was lost is found.
At times, it feels not like the Matthew Shipp Trio and Ivo Perelman, but a
well melded quartet.
As ever, the music is not set in time or length, and the conversations
differ in their intensity and emotion, but each is expressive. ‘Pillar of
Light’ is a non-stop confluence of different streams, patterns, time
patterns and responses, particularly between Shipp and Perelman – something
they seem to naturally fall into as musicians of like-minded approach.
Storytelling is their forte, and on this track, the stories are urgent and
essential, but the ultimate quietude is felt by everyone.
‘Tree of Life’ is intense, with billowing waves of sound that enfold the
listener, carrying them on waves of sound as they take various sonic
pathways leading who knows where. Shipp’s intensity on piano, coupled with
Perelman’s tranced screeching at one point, feels like they are going to
run out of notes but ultimately the conversation is brought back, the other
musicians are included and Maneri’s delicately positioned phrases create a
texture and depth, along with Parker’s wonderfully intuitive bass, so the
music becomes fulsome and rich. Shipp and Perelman achieve an almost
telepathic state where the piano lines echo and then contrast absolutely
with the sax lines.
‘Armageddon Flower’ sets out as a powerful track, with powerful, staccato
chords pumping from Shipp alongside melodic lines from Maneri and Perelman,
before it evolves and develops into an almost chorale of sounds with each
instrument putting forth a suggestion of movement, another retracting and
tracing another possibility, ideas exchanged, interwoven and discussed in
this intimate and intense conversation – it feels like four artists of
different styles decided to create a sonic mural with the essence of each
of their art. Just beautiful.
‘Restoration’ is a dream of a track, with gentleness, contemplative
elements and an overarching sense of finality, as the title suggests, of
restoration to peace and a grounding of the spirit.
Armageddon Flower is an album that is emotive but also exquisitely musical.
Four musicians of this calibre could have chosen to seek solo recognition,
to dominate or lead, but this is never the case. Leads are swapped,
responses and support given, and there is a sense of true communication.
Amid the spontaneity, there is a dedication to musical rules, and the
quartet never loses harmonic groundings. There is not only the close
relationship and symbiosis of the musicians but also evidence of their
differences in approach and interpretation, and responses to different
sonic suggestions.
After over thirty years of playing together, separately, in duos,
ensembles, and many different combinations, it is impossible not to be
surprised that new perspectives can be heard in this music. It is as if the
musicians, in spending time apart, then come together and all their new
learning and experiences have to be shared in music. This is deeply
intense, madly evocative, and supremely well-worked music.
Ultimately, the best way to try to understand what music means to musicians
is to ask them. Of this recording, Perelman says,
“This album is a landmark. I will probably not record again after this, the
way I used to. I think I have reached the ultimate result with this band.
The reviews have been outstanding. Luckily, there are many reviewers who
hear the importance, relevance, and uniqueness of this band, which
propelled its effectiveness and why this is a once-in-a-lifetime historic
recording. Those are words from the musicians and critics, not just mine.
The Armageddon flower is the flower I believe will be left after
self-destruction. That is how gloomy and dark I felt when I made this.
Although the music brought me a lot of joy, I have been following a lot of
World politics, which is awful.
Many will understand how demineralised soils are, how vegetables are poor
in nutrition compared to how they were just a few decades ago, how the
health of the World’s population has declined, and how World health
authorities manipulate facts and studies to be able to sell medicines that
are not effective at all, but cause more side effects. All that. So I felt
very dark, and I think the world situation, as I am describing it,
propelled the session to achieve its intensity. It is so intense that it is
unbearable. At the same time, it is the freest album I have ever recorded.
We all agreed. Matt Shipp can’t quite believe how free this is. The rhythm
is so pliable and mercurial, it is ridiculous. I have never heard anything
like it. And it is not just me saying this, I wasn’t even there. It was my
fingers moving, channeling forces that were beyond my control. It was a
dream – I woke up and the album was done. The same goes for everybody else.
We feel incredibly proud and incredulous about how this album came about. I
know I am always excited about my projects, but this is the one. This is a
once-in-a-lifetime project.”