Delicate intensity is an oxymoron that sounds right when trying to name the feeling that lingers after a few listens to pianist Shipps' 1999 session with alto saxophonist/ flutist Rob Brown and bassist William Parker. The work, a twenty-movement suite, evolves as a modulating mobile where moods and textures are shuffled in dramatic contrasts, fragments of musical thought strewn with alacrity across the aleatory process which evolves with the grace of a blooming flower. The resulting display of instrumental colors, mixed by these sensitive and inspired musicians, has the effect, as it were, of sounds traipsing along the tightrope of Shipp' compositions that serve as points of balance for the acrobatic maneuvers. Shipp chops at the piano one moment and then next lays out a shimmering chord or two while Brown's sax pecks the air like a lark and provokes the bearish barks and grumbles of Parker's bass. While big-eared, intense interaction is a given here, there are many moments of serene solo passages, where each musician is able to stretch out and develop a soliloquy in the evolution of this set of pieces.

Bleu Regard, a French label with an ear for creative trends in music has a catalogue that features sessions from the 90's, of which Magnetism is one. And fans of creative, improvised music have much to enjoy therein, if Shipp's release is any indication of what it has to offer.