- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
It reminds me that equilibrium, in chemical terms, is stasis -- I get through the whole thing without hearing much chemistry at all.
-
It is refreshing to encounter an album that does a number of different things well rather than sticking to a tried and true formula.
-
While there are programmed beats, ambient synths and samples aplenty to be found here, the overall vibe of this recording is one of a classic swinging session.
-
Entertainment WeeklyA perfect 41-minute album that balances wide-open melodic inventions with crisp, time-stopping grooves. [Listen 2 This supplement, Feb 2003, p.10]
-
Listening to Equilibrium is like attending a Matthew Shipp museum retrospective: one samples the various facets of Shipp’s recent career without delving too deeply into any one of them.
-
The WireIt's surely his finest recorded hour to date. [#230, p.61]
-
A mellow concoction of atmospheric textures, electronic samples and funk-lite beats.
-
But instead of pushing the electronics and making a funkier, nastier successor to his hit [Nu-Bop], this new disc feels like nothing so much as the Modern Jazz Quartet.
-
Shipp, whose restless vision is never clouded by grandiosity or pretense, has become the most important pianist on the scene today. Equilibrium is soul music for the mind.
-
This is music that took out all of the adjectives.
-
Brilliantly melds the aural imagery of Andrew Hill's '60s Blue Note classic Judgment! with contemporary electronica effects.
-
What makes Equilibrium special is the wonderfully atmospheric combination of Shipp's most minimalist playing and Jamal's glowing vibes; the rhythms, too, have a hypnotic sense of groove.