Two albums released together as a single-priced 2-CD set, NY drummer, composer and free improviser Whit Dickey leads two groupings: on Reckoning, a duet with frequent collaborator, pianist Matthew Shipp; and Pacific Noir, a trio with Shipp and trumpeter Nate Wooley; both superb examples of modern jazz with creative inventiveness and virtuouso execution.

Two implicitly lyrical players -- trumpeter Kirk Knuffke and drummer Whit Dickey -- in their second album together of well-paced, thoughtful dialog, an intimate set of recordings that show the adept skills of both as they promote their inherent melodic intentions on their instruments, neither overpowering, but conversing in a warm and rewarding give and take.

While working with Matthew Shipp on an Ivo Perelman album, drummer Whit Dickey and pianist Shipp agreed to record an album of their own and enlisted violist Mat Maneri to record this album of deep space-themed improvisations, collective music of heavy propulsion that bursts from impassioned exchange to convoluted clusters of sound.

The NY duo of Whit Dickey on drums and Kirk Knuffke on cornet, in Dickey's first published recording in a decade, using a slow pulse and space in sophisticated dialogs and ballads that avail finesse and economical approaches that rely on the incredible skills of both players.

Pianist Shipp's long-standing trio with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Whit Dickey, complex and inspired compositions that makes modern creative approaches to jazz beautifully accessible and essential.

Percussionist Scott Davidson, whose music is informed by jazz, classical Indian and Middle Eastern music, teamed up with pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist Michael Bisio, drummer Whit Dickey and reedist Lloyd Shorter for this album of world encompassing and rhythmic jazz.