Jazz concert series at the YMCA’s Arts Center (115 East Church St, Frederick MD) showcasing unique groups traveling into Frederick to play in Pianoscapes.

Open to all ages.  There is a $20 general admission at the door.  Doors open at 7:30pm and the concert will start at 8pm.

Matthew Shipp
Saturday, April 13

Matthew Shipp possesses a unique style that is entirely his own, one of the few pianists in jazz that can say so. Down Beat cited Shipp as a “musician who deserves a place of choice in the jazz piano pantheon … he is the connection between this past, present and future for jazz heads of all ages.” The Wall Street Journal stated that “Shipp has helped define, with uncommon distinction, a fresh range of possibilities for contemporary pianism grounded in jazz tradition – raise complex questions and yet invites listeners in.”

With his unique and recognizable style, pianist Matthew Shipp worked and recorded vigorously from the late ‘80s onward, creating music in which free jazz and modern classical intertwined. He first became well known in the early ‘90s as the pianist in the David S. Ware Quartet, and soon began leading his own dates — most often including Ware bandmate and leading bassist William Parker, and recording a number of duets with the legendary Roscoe Mitchell, who later performed with Shipp’s trio at a historic 1997 Carnegie Hall concert.
After establishing a new trajectory in chamber jazz through a series of recordings for the Swiss, Hat Hut label, Shipp was the curator and director of the acclaimed “Blue Series” of recordings issued on the Thirsty Ear label in the 2000s, a body of work that set a benchmark for 21st Century jazz. Shipp has continued to be a prolific recording artist, leading or co-leading nearly 100 titles, and counting.

Shipp maintains a vigorous performance schedule, regularly performing at major jazz festivals throughout North America and Europe.