Zo (album)

{{Infobox album

| name = Zo

| type = studio

| artist = Matthew Shipp

| cover = Zo_Matthew_Shipp_Cover.jpg

| alt =

| released = 1994

| recorded = May 1993

| venue =

| studio = Seltzer Sound, New York

| genre = Jazz

| length = 49:55

| label = Rise Records
2.13.61

| producer =

| chronology = Matthew Shipp

| prev_title = Circular Temple

| prev_year = 1992

| next_title = Critical Mass

| next_year = 1995

}}

Zo is an album by American jazz pianist Matthew Shipp with bassist William Parker, which was recorded in 1993 and released on the tiny label Rise Records. The album was reissued in 1997 by the 2.13.61 label, founded by Henry Rollins, in partnership with Thirsty Ear Recordings.

Music

Shipp states that this is a tribute to his favorite modern pianist Andrew Hill.Original Liner Notes by Steve Dalachinsky In his book Visions of Jazz: The First Century, Gary Giddins says about Zo, "His duets with the highly original and seemingly omnipresent William Parker, form a suite with a pensive reharmonized "Summertime" as the second of four movements, and Shipp's hammering single notes and his chordal harmonies in part three show how fastidiously he control his material while charting his own course."{{cite book|last = Giddins|first = Gary|author-link = Gary Giddins|title = Visions of Jazz:The First Century|year = 2000|publisher = Oxford University Press|isbn = 0195132416|pages = [https://archive.org/details/visionsofjazzfir0000gidd/page/526 526]|url = https://archive.org/details/visionsofjazzfir0000gidd/page/526}}

Reception

{{Album ratings

| rev3 = (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev3Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book|last = Brackett|first = Nathan|author-link = Nathan Brackett|title = The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|edition = 4th|series = The Rolling Stone Album Guide|year = 2004|publisher = Fireside|isbn = 0743201698|pages = [https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/732 732]|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/732}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{rating|3|5}}

| rev2 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz

| rev2Score = {{rating|3|4}}

}}

In his review for AllMusic, David R. Adler states: "It's a dark, forbidding affair, although the solo piano openings of 'Zo, No. 2' and 'Zo, No. 3,' beautiful in their angularity, provide some breathing room."{{allMusic|last=Adler|first=David R.|class=album|id=mw0000118279|title=Matthew Shipp – Zo: Review|access-date=March 6, 2014}}

The Penguin Guide to Jazz says that "Zo seems more specifically experimental in that Shipp and Parker seem to want to plunge into the darkest (and sometimes the dreariest) corners they can find, deep left-hand chords set on top of juddering bass vamps."{{cite book|last = Cook|first = Richard|author-link = Richard Cook (journalist)|author2=Brian Morton |author-link2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |title = The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD|edition = 6th|series = The Penguin Guide to Jazz|year = 2002|publisher = Penguin|location = London|isbn = 0140515216|pages = 1338}}