Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music
DICKERSON, Walt
(b 6 April 1928, Philadelphia; d 15 May 2008, Willow Grove PA; some sources give 1931 as the birth date) Vibraphonist and composer whose broken-backed career did not bring the fame his distinctive and influential playing deserved. He obtained a college degree and served in the U.S. Army in the mid 1950s, lived on the West Coast and led a group that included Andrew Hill and Andrew Cyrille, turning to music full time after he was named a New Star in down beat in 1962.
His recordings began with This Is Walt Dickerson! on Prestige and Relativity on Prestige/New Jazz, both quintet sets '61 with Cyrille; To My Queen '62 on New Jazz had Hill, Cyrille, George Tucker on bass, Dickerson's title track and 'How Deep Is The Ocean' getting lengthy treatments; these were all reissued on OJC CDs. Jazz Impressions of "Lawrence of Arabia" '63 was a quartet with Cyrille, appearing on Dauntless, and as Vibes In Motion on Audio Fidelity and on Fresh Sound (CD). He continued recording longer arrangements of originals; two extended quintet tracks '63 appeared on Audio Fidelity and Chiaroscuro as Walt Dickerson Plays Unity and were added to the Fresh Sound CD in 2006.
The Walt Dickerson Quartet made Impressions Of A Patch Of Blue for MGM '65, treating the Oscar-nominated music by Jerry Goldsmith for the film of that name, with Sun Ra on piano and celeste. He was then inactive in music for a decade.
Dickerson returned with two trio originals on Tell Us Only The Beautiful Things '75, with Cyrille and Wilbur Ware on bass, on a Why Not label, and two more on Peace on Steeplechase, Lisle Atkinson replacing Ware. A compilation of trio and quartet tracks '76, some with Jamaaladeen Tacuma on electric bass, appeared on Why Not.
On Steeplechase: five trio tracks with Tacuma and Edgar Bateman on drums were recorded '76, apparently not released until '94 on a CD. A duo session with bassist Richard Davis '77 was called Dialogue; To My Queen Revisited in July '78 was a quartet set; Visions a few days later was a duo with Sun Ra.
By September 1978 Dickerson was in Denmark and there was a burst of activity for two months. Landscape With Open Door was a duo with guitarist Pierre Dørge (b 28 February 1946, Copenhagen); Dickerson is listed as the leader in one source but the music was composed by Dørge. A trio track 'I Hear You John' was issued on two sides of an LP of that title; a CD '96 added 'We Wish You Well Wilbur Ware' at over 38 minutes long, and other tracks including some collective improvisations. To My Son was another trio set. All this was in 1978; then a trio set Life Rays '82 was recorded with Cyrille in Italy for Soul Note, and there were no more recordings for the last 25 years.