Jazz Articles about Whit Dickey
Whit Dickey Quartet: Astral Long Form: Staircase In Space
by Mark Corroto
As leader of the Whit Dickey Quartet, the drummer placed total faith in his bandmates for this studio session. The accompanying materials quote Dickey, “I asked them all to not think of time too much; I just wanted them to play, not to follow me or each other." Was that instruction made out of confidence or recklessness? One might say reckless if the lineup were other than the seasoned improvisers the leader assembled. Dickey might be best known ...
read moreWhit Dickey Quartet, Yells At Eels & Fabian Dudek
by Maurice Hogue
There's a full load of great music in this episode of One Man's Jazz. It opens with a continuation of my recognition of trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez who passed away last month. The focus is on his powerful trio, Yells At Eels, with his two sons, Aaron and Stefan. There's a good chunk of new stuff from Europe—Norway's Bliss Quintet, Portugal's Mazam, Torbjorn Zetterberg, the fine bassist from Stockholm, guitarist {m: Michael Gregory Jackson}} German saxophonist Fabian Dudeck who has lots ...
read moreWhit Dickey / William Parker / Matthew Shipp: Village Mothership
by John Sharpe
Village Mothership presents a constellation of stars which first assembled some three decades ago. Although released on drummer Whit Dickey's Tao Forms imprint, on this 2020 studio date the trio, completed by bassist William Parker and pianist Matthew Shipp, manifests as a cooperative effort, unlike their first appearance on Circular Temple (Quinton, 1990) under Shipp's leadership. As well as being the pianist's trio of choice for several years, the threesome was also 75% of esteemed saxophonist David S. Ware's classic ...
read moreWhit Dickey / William Parker / Matthew Shipp: Village Mothership
by Mark Corroto
If drummer Whit Dickey, bassist William Parker, and pianist Matthew Shipp were a rock band, we might expect them to cover their classic album Circular Temple (Quinton Records, 1992) an LP, later re-released on the Infinite Zero label in 1994. Of course they are not a rock band, but If they were, we probably would demand they perform the music on Circular Temple in the exact same manner as it sounded three decades earlier. But that's just not the way ...
read moreWhit Dickey Trio: Expanding Light
by Glenn Astarita
Highly respected, longtime New York City-based drummer Whit Dickey, frequent collaborator, and laudable alto saxophonist Rob Brown and young bassist Brandon Lopez consummate this trio's debut recording. As most would surmise, the musicians explore and refresh the peripheries of free jazz improvisation. Dickey and Brown's involvement with the always fertile NY improv scene is well-documented. Here, the band takes a democratic approach with close-knit interactions and formidable upfront asymmetrical grooves using space to impart breathing room and gradual ...
read moreWhit Dickey, Sara Serpa & Stanley J. Zappa
by Maurice Hogue
This first July show features the debut of a new record label with a focus on improvisation: Tau Forms. The artistic director is drummer Whit Dickey, and it happens that his new Expanded Light is one of first two releases by the label; the other comes from pianist Matthew Shipp. Good luck to Tao Forms! I thought I'd throw in a little Zappa for you this episode, but it's not Frank, it's his saxophone-playing nephew, Stanley J. Zappa who teamed ...
read moreMusic from new label Tao Forms
by Bob Osborne
Tao Forms is a new recording label launched in Spring 2020. Drummer—improviser—composer Whit Dickey is both the creative director and executive producer of this fresh endeavour. Matthew Shipp's The Piano Equation was the label's inaugural release. It was followed by Expanding Light, which is the new work by Whit Dickey himself. The music is distributed by the Aum Fidelity label. On this show I feature tracks from both of those albums as well as other music from the ...
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