Jazz wizard Matthew Shipp has been working on a series of albums entitled “The Blue Series.” His latest addition to the series is called “Equilibrium,” and it proves just how versatile jazz can be. There’s no horns of any kind; it’s just Shipp on the piano, along with William Parker on bass, Gerald Cleaver on the drums, Khan Jamal on the vibes and somebody known only as Flam on the synthesizers.

The opening song, and also title track, starts things off a little slow. The first 20 seconds sound like something out of a scary movie. Quietly, the bass and drums join in to make for a quiet little jam.

The second tune, “Vamp to Vibe,” changes the pace dramatically with an almost immediate shuffle beat laid down by Cleaver. Shipp’s repeating piano riff leaves room for Jamal to do a little exploring with the vibes. Much of the song is based around his solos.

We get a taste of how a little hip-hop can influence jazz when Flam adds his touch to songs like “Cohesion.” Cleaver sets the tempo with a funk beat while Shipp improvises with his piano; all the while we can hear the the synthesizers and electronics spicing up the mood. There aren’t a lot of vibes in this one.

While most of the tracks on the album are based off some kind of drum beat or guitar riff, others just seem to float around in space. One song, “Nebula Theory,” is basically a collaboration of random notes and ambient sounds. This is the most unusual song on the album, and only true jazz fans will understand it. Others may wonder how it is considered music, but then again, this album wasn’t exactly made for “others.”

This is a solid effort put forth by Shipp and his crew. Being the fourth album in “The Blue Series” (the previous three are entitled “Pastoral Composure,” “New Orbit” and “Nu Bop”), “Equilibrium is intended to be, as Shipp states in the liner notes, “a synthesis of what I’ve learned from all my other ‘Blue Series’ albums.”

Shipp then says, “Ultimately, the goal of this album is to take your mind on a trip.”

Shipp exceeds there. In fact, I don’t know if my mind has come back yet.