Late Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 Just landed a copy of Impressions of A Patch of Blue earlier this week, and have been spinning it every day since. Not only is it a great sounding recording, it's a great recording! Other favorites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyhersom Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 Welcome. The next two recommendations are Peace on Steeplechase, a record of unearthly beauty that's more free form than Impressions, and To My Queen, the highlight of his Prestige/New Jazz period featuring Andrew Hill. I have them all, absolutely no duds. Some of the later Steeplechases have some humming along that only distracts slightly. I love the sound he gets out of his bassists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spontooneous Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 I love the sound he gets out of his bassists. What kind of mallets does he use on them? But seriously, folks. I'd second the recommendation for "To My Queen" and add one for the expansive remake, "To My Queen Revisted," on Steeplechase. Then there's "Visions," the Steeplechase disc of duets with Sun Ra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vibes Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 "Jazz Impressions of Lawrence of Arabia" and "Unity" are excellent. I don't know who owns the Audio Fidelity/Dauntless labels, but I would love to see these two albums reissued. "Relativity" is my favorite of the OJCs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEK Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 "Jazz Impressions of Lawrence of Arabia" and "Unity" are excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Reynolds Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 Life Rays with Sirone & Andrew Cyrille munificent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 Big thumbs up for 'Jazz Impressions of Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Shades of Love', a wonderfully recorded (direct master) solo set that was put out for Steeplechase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 Walt Dickerson is an old favorite! I have most of his Steeplechase albums. All of them are superb. Favorites among those include 'To My Queen Revisited', 'Peace', Serependity', 'To My Son' (this one does not seem to have been reissued since its vinyl release), 'Visions' (that's the one with Sun Ra) 'Divine Gemini' (with Richard Davis). I should get all the other Steeplechase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 I'm waiting for TO MY SON to arrive... should be here any day. I'm really looking forward to hearing this one. I've taken my time with the Walt Dickerson recordings. One a year, just about... I listen to them very often. He was playing quick notes back in the New Jazz days, but nothing like he is on VISIONS. What would be a blur of notes in any other hands is a perfectly clear, staccato flutter of sound. My biggest disappointment with that collaboration is that Ra never goes to the electric instruments. I had imagined a more colorful spectrum. I wouldn't start with Visions, or Peace for that matter. I would start with all of the New Jazz discs chronologically, then move toward Steeplechase. Like Larry Young, or John Coltrane, Walt Dickerson's recorded growth and development of a very personal music is just flat out incredible. Enjoy Late. In my opinion, Walt Dickerson's music is some of the most inspirational in my collection. Hell, it inspired me to buy a vibraphone and get to work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalupa Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 Is he still alive/performing??? Last I heard he was living in the Philly suburbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Tell Us Only the Beautiful Things (Trio/Whynot) with Wilbur Ware and Andrew Cyrille is a great record - probably my favorite Dickerson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 I've only ever seen that album on the internet, Paul, and it is priced around $30.00. Is this in line with what you got it for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 I've only ever seen that album on the internet, Paul, and it is priced around $30.00. Is this in line with what you got it for? I bought my vinyl copy for about $13 when it came out and have enjoyed it since then. I believe that it was reissued on CD at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Moments Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 enjoying "patch of blue" at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 I've only ever seen that album on the internet, Paul, and it is priced around $30.00. Is this in line with what you got it for? £10/$16 shipped direct from Candid Records: http://www.candidrecords.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=143&products_id=264 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Thanks. I assume this is a cd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Thanks. I assume this is a cd? Yes, Candid Records have reissued all the Whynot releases on CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imeanyou Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 I unhesitatingly pick up all and any Dickerson releases I come across. He's never let me down. The New Jazz stuff is uniformly good but I think he get's even more interesting with his later work on Steeplechase. 'Patch of Blue' has the orthodoxy of the earlier stuff and the invention of his later work, 'Bacon and Eggs' strikes me as one of the best tunes Monk never wrote but could have. 'Life Rays' on Soul Note is a late masterpiece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Agreed Imeanyou. And the Whynot stuff is transcendent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imeanyou Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Agreed Imeanyou. And the Whynot stuff is transcendent. I have both the Whynot releases, not easy to find, even in the various Tokyo Disk Union outlets. I'm more familiar with 'Tell Us' than '76' but I haven't listened to either in a while so I will remedy that this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
six string Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 I'm a big fan as well and I've been slowly acquring his albums as I come across them. i discovered them through a jazz blog Orgy In Rhythm several years ago so some of my copies are 320kbps mp3 versions but I'm replacing them with originals when I find them. I bought his eponymous album on New Jazz which didn't get mentioned here and I think it's pretty great too. There's a pianist on some of his early albums that I've never heard of or seen around except for Walt's albums, Austin Crowe. Did Crowe ever record on his own? I found his playing with Dickerson to be very good, both soloing and comping. He had a nice touch. Another one I really dig and for different reasons is Divine Gemini w/Richard Davis on Steeplechase. Some might call it soporific which is why I frequently have it loaded up in my Sony Dream Machine so that can go to sleep and wake up to it. It's very easy on the head at the end of the day. My top three would be in no particular order Patch Of Blue, Jazz Impressions of Lawrence of Arabia and either To My Queen or Relativity, I can't decide and the eponymous album is a close fourth or fifth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walt Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 My Walt Dickerson faves are Peace, the trio with Lisle Atkinson and Andrew Cyrille,the duet with Richard Davis,and Visions, the duo with Sun Ra.All are wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted March 10, 2023 Report Share Posted March 10, 2023 I am not usually a fan of thread necrophilia, but I am thinking about picking up a CD of Dickerson's "Impressions of a Patch of Blue" from the Verve Elite series. What are the thoughts on this CD? It's going for about $20 right now but I'm on the fence after sampling some tunes on YouTube. Seems rather sleepy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted March 10, 2023 Report Share Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, bresna said: I am not usually a fan of thread necrophilia, but I am thinking about picking up a CD of Dickerson's "Impressions of a Patch of Blue" from the Verve Elite series. What are the thoughts on this CD? It's going for about $20 right now but I'm on the fence after sampling some tunes on YouTube. Seems rather sleepy. I like it - comes across very much as a ‘Tom Wilson production’ in terms of vibe/sound but it is a nice session and Sun Ra fits in extremely well. Recommended - in fact I will dig that one out for an overdue spin. Not the longest of playing times though, as I recall. Playing it right now - total playing time around 35 mins. I prefer the sound of this CD to the LP I found of ‘Impressions’, for which I thought the sonics were noisy. No such concerns with the CD. Plus you get Sun Ra on spooky harpsichord too ! One other plus for the CD are the good booklet notes, with Dickerson’s recollections of the session. Apparently, the group did a short tour to publicise the album and even appeared on TV in the Philadelphia area. Edited March 10, 2023 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romualdo Posted March 10, 2023 Report Share Posted March 10, 2023 wow!! this thread has been going (on & off) for almost 20 years BTW I have a decent slice of Walt's material on CD (Verve Elite, Prestige/NJ/OJC, Steeplechase, Whynot/Candid) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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