Search - Dickey Whit :: Big Top

Drummer Whit Dickey earned his stripes playing with Matthew Shipp and David S. Ware, two of the more formidable stars of the avant-garde jazz scene. Big Top, Dickey's second project as a leader, features saxist Rob Brown, a regular in William Parker's gritty, freewheeling big band In Order to Survive; bassist Chris Lightcap; and prominent free guitarist Joe Morris. While it seems unusual to note an improvisational jazz record's exquisite pacing, Big Top shines with tunes that are dynamic and wonderfully put together. A prime example is the band's laid-back rendition of Eric Dolphy's "The Prophet" featuring a luminescent solo by Morris. Thelonious Monk's "Skippy" is a deliciously topsy-turvy romp featuring fine work by Morris and Brown. The final work, a lighthearted Dickey original called "The Immortals," features spry interplay, and yet again, wonderful note tinkering by Joe Morris. --S. Duda