Symbol Systems

Symbol Systems is an album by American jazz pianist Matthew Shipp which was recorded in 1995 and became the first release on No More, a label founded by producer Alan Schneider. It was the first solo piano released by Shipp but was recorded five months after Before the World, a live performance which was released later.

Symbol Systems
Studio album by Matthew Shipp
Released	1995
Recorded	November 22, 1995
Studio	Baby Monster, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	60:51
Label	No More
Producer	Alan Schneider
Matthew Shipp chronology
Critical Mass (1995) Symbol Systems (1995) Prism (1996)

He was approached by the producer to offer up some ideas for it, so Shipp later presented Schneider with what he had in mind "scribbled on a napkin." Spending one day in the recording studio, Shipp manufactured a recording of thirteen "compact miniatures of ideas imposed on a structure."^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

In his review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek says about the album that "is a recommended place for those who are interested but unfamiliar with Shipp as a pianist, improviser, and composer to discover why, along with Marilyn Crispell, he is the most exciting pianist in music."^[2] In an article for the Boston Phoenix, Norman Weinstein states "Pensive, moody, full of flinty melodies that remind you Shipp's classical roots are firmly planted in Russian soil, these compositions haunt and unsettle."^[3]

Track listing

All compositions by Matthew Shipp

1. "Clocks" – 7:04
2. "Harmonic Oscillator" – 3:51
3. "Temperate Zone" – 1:56
4. "Symbol Systems" – 4:50
5. "The Highway" – 6:09
6. "Self-Regulated Motion" – 3:20
7. "Frame" – 5:12
8. "Flow Of Meaning" – 7:14
9. "Dance Of The Blue Atoms" – 3:25
10. "Bop Abyss" – 4:37
11. "Nerve Signals" – 3:33
12. "Algebraic Boogie" – 2:16
13. "The Inventor Pt. 1" – 4:17
14. "The Inventor Pt. 2" – 3:07

Personnel

• Matthew Shipp - piano

References

1. Matthew Shipp: Traversing The Regions Of The Mind by Lyn Horton at All About Jazz
2. Jurek, Thom. Matthew Shipp – Symbol Systems: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
3. Pianist/composer Matthew Shipp gives jazz a geological swing by Norman Weinstein at Boston Phoenix