{"id":10560,"date":"2025-06-03T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T11:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=10560"},"modified":"2025-06-03T11:36:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T16:36:36","slug":"perelman-shipp-armageddon-flower-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/perelman-shipp-armageddon-flower-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving Up Control: A Conversation with Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp on \u2018Armageddon Flower\u2019 (Part One)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Lonely on the Mountain<\/em> (Bantam, 1980), Western novelist Louis L\u2019Amour wisely noted that “there will come a time when you believe everything is finished, that will be the beginning.” Instead, as Nicholas Copernicus\u2019 heliocentric model posits, our universe is infinite; there is no real end. The concept of continuity is not truly foreign to most. Even \u201880s and \u201890s rock lyrics like \u201cIt\u2019s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine,\u201d or \u201cevery new beginning comes from some other beginning\u2019s end,\u201d alludes to the cyclical reality in which we live. And, yet, there is a quasi-fatalistic human tendency to find finality rather than acknowledge that a moment is merely an interlude into a new phase. The open refutation of this prevailing mindset is what best distinguishes Armageddon Flower<\/em> (Tao Forms, 2025) by Ivo Perelman with the Matthew Shipp String Trio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first blush, Armageddon Flower<\/em>\u2019s title is an act of social commentary. It is a reflection on finding beauty in the perilous era in which the world finds itself. And that is also certainly evident upon hearing the record. At times, you can sonically witness blooming fluorescence in a sea of desolation; new growth out of a deceptively barren landscape. But that is all only surface deep. Flower<\/em>\u2019s roots go much deeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digging beneath the topsoil reveals personal introspection. Sifting through the excavated terrain, questions arise. What is art? Where does it come from? What is an artist\u2019s role in its creation? When do vines already grown continue to thrive and branch out on their own? And at what point does the artistic ground need to be tilled for the saplings to rise? Two artists at the forefront of artistic expression, saxophonist Perelman and pianist Shipp are ultimately expert gardeners. They have spent four decades planting their ideas into the artistic community. They have nourished them through their own technical skills. Provided great irrigation through the strengths of their relationships with other artists in the group – William Parker on bass and Mat Maneri on viola- not to mention a long history of forty-six albums with each other.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But ultimately, growth is never assured. It\u2019s not even up to artists at the end of the day. If an acid cloud blocks the sun, what will become of their garden? As two musicians in the twilight of their recording careers, Perelman and Shipp recognize their contributions must take root. Not for ego, but for future growth in the art they love. In this sense, one can say many things about Armageddon Flower<\/em>. It is a beautiful work by two masters of their craft that slowly develops and buds. But, more than that, one cannot help but sense it is the most realized work to date by both. It is the type of record that provides not only rich organic matter for future planters but that is likely to ensure that no matter how treacherous the terrain, a future seeker will find not a lone sprouting flower but a whole field of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We sat down with both Perelman and Shipp to discuss the album and its deeper implications<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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