The Squid's Ear Magazine


Dickey, Whit: Sacred Ground (Clean Feed)


 

Price: $13.95


Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 2.00 units

Sample The Album:


product information:

Personnel:



Roy Campbell, Jr.-trumpet

Rob Brown-alto saxophone

Joe Morris-doublebass

Whit Dickey-drums


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 5609063000573

Label: Clean Feed
Catalog ID: CF057
Squidco Product Code: 6449

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2006
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardstock foldover
Recorded November 10th, 2004, at Peter Karl Studio, Brooklyn, NY / Mastered November 23rd, 2004.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.
"Being a drummer, Whit Dickey uses generally the piano when he composes. The pieces included in "Sacred Ground" are exceptions - this time, he chose the voice as compositional tool. That circumstance lead him to a particular purpose: to reinforce the melodical complexion of his music. And notice: the music of a drummer. This is not new, of course. Max Roach is the most famous case of a percussionist who wanted to play melodically, but truth is many performers of this instrument aren't satisfied with only dealing with pulse and texture, or even conceiving a piece from a harmonic point of view (after all, the piano is a confortable instrument for a drummer to score his ideas). That change of perspective explains the refreshing approach of these tunes presented by Dickey as "distillations of melodic improvisation". With this kind of program, he couldn't find better frontline than the one formed by trumpeter Roy Campbell and alto saxophonist Rob Brown, two of the most renowned melodic trapezists in the present jazz scene. Both using their axes as extensions of the voice and both known for the narrativity of their "singing". Speaking about changes of roles, the fourth element of this combo is a guitarrist that sometimes puts away his fretted six strings to play a double bass, Joe Morris. Here he is doing that job with all the delivery that you expect from a bassist. If you're a Whit Dickey fan, you have here some different stuff that can surprise you, and if you're a newcomer to his music you'll know him at his best. Everybody wins."-Clean Feed

Artist Biographies

"Roy Sinclair Campbell Jr. (September 29, 1952 - January 9, 2014) was an American trumpeter frequently linked to free jazz, although he also performed rhythm and blues and funk during his career.

Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1952, Campbell was raised in New York City. At the age of fifteen he began learning to play trumpet and soon studied at the Jazz Mobile program along with Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan and Joe Newman. Throughout the 1960s, still unacquainted with the avant-garde movement, Campbell performed in the big bands of the Manhattan Community College. From the 1970s onwards he performed primarily within the context of free jazz, spending some of this period studying with Yusef Lateef.

In the early 1990s Campbell moved to the Netherlands and performed regularly with Klaas Hekman and Don Cherry. In addition to leading his own groups, he performed with Yo La Tengo, William Parker, Peter Brotzmann, Matthew Shipp, and other improvisors. Upon returning to the United States he began leading his group Other Dimensions In Music and also formed the Pyramid Trio, a pianoless trio formed with William Parker. He performed regularly as part of the Festival of New Trumpet Music, which is held annually in New York City.

He died in January 2014 of hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at the age of 61."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Campbell_Jr.)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Rob Brown (born February 27, 1962) is an American free jazz saxophonist and composer.

Rob was born in Hampton, VA. He started playing saxophone at the age of 12 or 13. His first gigs were with a local Virginia and swing band. He eventually studied at Berklee College for two years and worked privately with both Joe Viola and John LaPorta. After a year on the west coast, Brown bounced back to Boston, where he met pianist Matthew Shipp. He moved to NY in 1984 where he enrolled at New York University, earned a music degree, and studied with saxophone masters such as Lee Konitz, but the teacher who had more influence on Rob conceptually was Philadelphian Dennis Sandole. Rob took the train to Philly once a week to study with him for a year and a half.

His first issued recording was the duet with Shipp Sonic Explorations and since then has been actively leading groups or working as a sideman with Shipp, William Parker, Whit Dickey, Joe Morris and Steve Swell.

He is a 2001 CalArts/Alpert/Ucross Residency Prize winner and has received many Meet The Composer Fund grants. In 2006 Rob was awarded a Chamber Music America New Works grant."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Brown_(saxophonist))
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Joe Morris was born in New Haven, Connecticut on September 13, 1955. At the age of 12 he took lessons on the trumpet for one year. He started on guitar in 1969 at the age of 14. He played his first professional gig later that year. With the exception of a few lessons he is self-taught. The influence of Jimi Hendrix and other guitarists of that period led him to concentrate on learning to play the blues. Soon thereafter his sister gave him a copy of John Coltrane's OM, which inspired him to learn about Jazz and New Music. From age 15 to 17 he attended The Unschool, a student-run alternative high school near the campus of Yale University in downtown New Haven. Taking advantage of the open learning style of the school he spent most of his time day and night playing music with other students, listening to ethnic folk, blues, jazz, and classical music on record at the public library and attending the various concerts and recitals on the Yale campus. He worked to establish his own voice on guitar in a free jazz context from the age of 17. Drawing on the influence of Coltrane, Miles Davis, Cecil Taylor,Thelonius Monk, Ornette Coleman as well as the AACM, BAG, and the many European improvisers of the '70s. Later he would draw influence from traditional West African string music, Messian, Ives, Eric Dolphy, Jimmy Lyons, Steve McCall and Fred Hopkins. After high school he performed in rock bands, rehearsed in jazz bands and played totally improvised music with friends until 1975 when he moved to Boston.

Between 1975 and 1978 he was active on the Boston creative music scene as a soloist as well as in various groups from duos to large ensembles. He composed music for his first trio in 1977. In 1980 he traveled to Europe where he performed in Belgium and Holland. When he returned to Boston he helped to organize the Boston Improvisers Group (BIG) with other musicians. Over the next few years through various configurations BIG produced two festivals and many concerts. In 1981 he formed his own record company, Riti, and recorded his first LpWraparound with a trio featuring Sebastian Steinberg on bass and Laurence Cook on drums. Riti records released four more LPs and CDs before 1991. Also in 1981 he began what would be a six year collaboration with the multi-instrumentalist Lowell Davidson, performing with him in a trio and a duo. During the next few years in Boston he performed in groups which featured among others; Billy Bang, Andrew Cyrille, Peter Kowald, Joe McPhee, Malcolm Goldstein, Samm Bennett, Lawrence "Butch" Morris and Thurman Barker. Between 1987 and 1989 he lived in New York City where he performed at the Shuttle Theater, Club Chandelier, Visiones, Inroads, Greenwich House, etc. as well as performing with his trio at the first festival Tea and Comprovisation held at the Knitting Factory.

In 1989 he returned to Boston. Between 1989 and 1993 he performed and recorded with his electric trio Sweatshop and electric quartet Racket Club. In 1994 he became the first guitarist to lead his own session in the twenty year history of Black Saint/Soulnote Records with the trio recording Symbolic Gesture. Since 1994 he has recorded for the labels ECM, Hat Hut, Leo, Incus, Okka Disc, Homestead, About Time, Knitting Factory Works, No More Records, AUM Fidelity and OmniTone and Avant. He has toured throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe as a solo and as a leader of a trio and a quartet. Since 1993 he has recorded and/or performed with among others; Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Joe and Mat Maneri, Rob Brown, Raphe Malik, Ivo Pearlman, Borah Bergman, Andrea Parkins, Whit Dickey, Ken Vandermark, DKV Trio, Karen Borca, Eugene Chadborne, Susie Ibarra, Hession/Wilkinson/Fell, Roy Campbell Jr., John Butcher, Aaly Trio, Hamid Drake, Fully Celebrated Orchestra and others.

He began playing acoustic bass in 2000 and has since performed with cellist Daniel Levin, Whit Dickey and recorded with pianist Steve Lantner.

He has lectured and conducted workshops trroughout the US and Europe. He is a former member of the faculty of Tufts University Extension College and is currently on the faculty at New England Conservatory in the jazz and improvisation department. He was nominated as Best Guitarist of the year 1998 and 2002 at the New York Jazz Awards."

-Joe Morris Website (http://www.joe-morris.com/biography.html)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Whit Dickey (born May 28, 1954, New York City) is a free jazz drummer. He has recorded albums as a bandleader, with David S. Ware, Matthew Shipp and others.

Free jazz drummer Whit Dickey first stepped into the spotlight as a leader with the release of his Transonic album from Aum Fidelity in 1998. Two years later, Wobbly Rail issued his Big Top release. Previously, he was best known for his solid work with Matthew Shipp and David S. Ware, with whom Dickey split in 1996. Early the following year, the drummer began composing the works that would be included on Transonic. Dickey penned all but two songs, "Kinesis" and "Second Skin," on the collection, and he even had a hand in those with the help of his fellow musicians on the album. The original compositions give a nod to the influence of "Criss Cross" and "Off Minor" from the legendary Thelonious Monk. Dickey recorded the album with the aid of Rob Brown on flute and alto saxophone, and Chris Lightcap on bass. In 2001, Dickey recorded half a dozen of his compositions with Mat Maneri, Shipp, and Brown under the name Nommonsemble, and put out Life Cycle through Aum Fidelity.

Whit Dickey made a name for himself as the former drummer of David S. Ware's famous quartet. Since then Dickey's musical contributions have gone well beyond his work as Ware's drummer. He is capable of tremendous power and yet has the ability for subtle gesture. Dickey is a composer as well as a drummer and his music has reached new heights in his recent small group work, with a coterie of great musicians including alto saxophonist Rob Brown. He has been performing with Matthew Shipp since 1991 and continues to play and record with Roy Campbell Jr., Mat Maneri, Chris Lightcap and many others. Since 2007 Dickey has been focussing on developing an integrative improvisational style while working with Shipp's Trio.

Daniel Carter and Dickey recorded an album pianist Eri Yamamoto in 2008.

The album Art of the Improvisor from The Matthew Shipp Trio received much critical acclaim and was listed as one of the year's best of 2011. Dickey has started a cooperative unit with Sabir Mateen & Michael Bisio, which is another example of post- Coltrane integral unity, and is call Blood Trio.

Shipp, Bisio and Dickey have also been working with Ivo Perelman in various configurations."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whit_Dickey)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Vortex

2. Soldier of Uncertainty

3. Sacred Ground

4. Vital Transmission

5. Dream of Caravans

Related Categories of Interest:

Clean Feed
Improvised Music
Jazz
July 2006
Quartet Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
Clean Feed.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Reid, Tomeka / Kyoko Kitamura / Taylor Ho Bynum / Joe Morris
Geometry of Caves
(Relative Pitch)
Bringing New York and Chicago performers together, the quartet of cellist Tomeka Reid, guitarist Joe Morris, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and free vocalist Kyoko Kitamura present an album of expressive and creative collective improvisation, bridging chamber forms and free jazz with a captivatingly eccentric appeal from Kitamura's wordless vocalese.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Brainhack Musicbox (Bobrytsky / Lisovsky / Boldenko)
Brownarium
(Brainhack Musicbox)
Each track named after a mythical Scottish character, the Ukrainian trio of Stanislav Bobrytsky on modular synth, Pavlo Lisovsky on tenor saxophone and Anton Boldenko on viola create a music merging free jazz principles with modular synthetic drone, creating an orchestral sound that still elucidates the detail of their uniquely orchestrated, rich sonic explorations.
Puntigam, Werner / Beat Keller / Georg Wilbertz
UND JA, AND YES
(zOaR Records)
Freely improvised, noisy chamber music performed on guitar, trombone, conch shell, drums & percussion from the trio of Swiss guitarist Beat Keller, Austrian trombonist Werner Puntigam and German drummer Georg Wilbertz, bridging genres while keeping a sense of free jazz as an implied basis, with a sly sense of humor and wonder through marvelous technique and timing.
Ayler, Albert Trio
New York Eye And Ear Control, Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
After moving to NYC in the early 60s, filmmaker Michael Snow was introduced the music of saxophonist Albert Ayler's Trio with bassist Gary Peacock & drummer Sunny Murray, inviting them and trumpeter Don Cherry, trombonist Rudd and altoist John Tchicai to record these three brilliant freely improvised tracks, parts of which would be used in his art film "New York Eye and Ear Control".
Campbell, Roy / John Dikeman / Raoul van der Weide / Peter Jacquemyn / Klaus Kugel
When The Time Is Right
(577 Records)
Performing at Bimhuis in 2013, the trans-Atlantic quintet of Roy Campbell on trumpet, flugelhorn & flute, John Dikeman on saxophone, Raoul van der Weide on cello & percussion, Peter Jacquemyn on bass & voice and Klaus Kugel on drums, perform an extended, energetic and dynamic set of free improvisation, with intricate melodies and beautifully rich transitions.
Strings5
Lost In Labyrinth
(Casco Records)
A chamber-oriented album of strings & piano improvisation released on cellist Raoul van der Weide's Casco label, in a quintet of Marta Warelis on piano, Jacob Plooij on violin, Raoul van der Weide on cello & percussion, Henk Zwerver on guitar, Jan Nijdam on double bass, recording in the studio for eight quick-witted, sophisticated and innately playful conversations.
Muller, Matthias / Ricardo Tejero / Vasco Trilla
Implositions
(Orbit577)
The first release from the Barcelona-based trio of Matthias Muller (trombone), Ricardo Tejero (saxophone), and Vasco Trilla (percussion), the band examining "physics, metaphysics, and the root causes of tension that hold our world together" through fully improvised improvisation using unusual voicing, textures, modes of expression and techniques.
Ackerley, Jessica / Daniel Carter
Friendship: Lucid Shared Dreams and Time Travel
(577 Records)
Developed over outdoor sessions performed during the summer of 2020 around NYC, this is the first release from the duo of multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter and acoustic guitarist Jessica Ackerley, their warm collaboration heard in effortless interactions inspired by the dream-like, meditative approach in both improviser's playing; lovely.
Mela, Francisco feat. Matthew Shipp / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 1
(577 Records)
A member of pianist McCoy Tyner's Trio and Joe Lavano's Quartet, New York drummer Francisco Mela's own career as a leader is heard in this energetic trio album with two of NY's finest--pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker--recording in the studio in Brooklyn in 2020 for two extended and powerful collective improvisations and a brief "Dark Light".
Ishito, Ayumi
The Spacemen Vol. 1
(577 Records)
Somewhere between Acid Mothers, 70s Miles or Sun Ra's Arkestra, NY-based Japanese saxophonist Ayumi Ishito's first Spacemen volume with Theo Woodward on synth & vocals, Nebula and the Velvet Queen on theremin, Jake Strauss on guitar & bass and Steven Bartishev on drums, lives up to it's cosmic moniker through exploratory improv blurring jazz, electronica and psych.
Dunmall, Paul / Mark Sanders
Unity
(577 Records)
Despite countless collaborations in a variety of settings, UK saxophonist Paul Dunmall and drummer/percussionist Mark Sanders have never recorded one of the most straight-forward of pairings — the saxophone and drum duo — correcting their omission with his superb album of exploratory and exuberant dialogs, five tracks showing the skill and kinship between the two.
Musson, Rachel
Dreamsing
(577 Records)
The debut solo album of London tenor saxophonist Rachel Musson, the title a wordplay on the spoken word interactions that accompanying her unique voice on the sax -- gritty melodic lines trading off with unusual asides and techniques -- engaging the listener as she interjects words, phrases and utterance that serve as jumping off points to direct her improvisations.
Sinclair, Iain / London Experimental Ensemble
Dark Before Dark
(577 Records)
Writer Iain Sinclair joins The London Experimental Ensemble to perform his narrative work, a sequel to Living With Buildings: And Walking With Ghosts, telling a surreal story of the imaginary 25-year journey of a whalebone box, told in detailed images and incredible sonic support through keys, strings, brass, winds, guitar, electronics and voice; profoundly powerful.
Musson Rachel / Pat Thomas / Mark Sanders
Shifa - Live at Cafe Oto
(577 Records)
"Shifa", or "Healing", is the London-based trio of saxophonist Rachel Musson, pianist Pat Thomas, and drummer Mark Sanders, here in a live concert at Cafe Oto in 2018 of two collective improvisations of arching sax lines, rolling and potent drumming, powerful block chords and intricate lines, from dark to joyful moments, an intoxicating tonic for the ears.
Brice, Olie / Binker Golding / Henry Kaiser / N.O. Moore / Eddie Prevost
The Secret Handshake with Danger Vol. One
(577 Records)
A merging of free jazz and free improvisation in the UK/US West Coast quintet of legendary AMM drummer Eddie Prévost, guitarist Henry Kaiser on "ismguitar", N.O. Moore on "guitarisism", Blinker Golding on saxophone and Olie Brice on double bass, in a rollicking album of electric jazz recorded in the studio in London for two exhilarating "Doors" of quick shifting improv.
Tucker, Dave / Pat Thomas / Thurston Moore / Mark Sanders
Educated Guess Vol. 1
(577 Records)
The "guess" was guitarist and electronics artist Dave Tucker's educated guess that these four musicians--himself, pianist/keyboardist Pat Thomas, guitarist Thurston Moore and drummer/percussionist Mark Sanders--would create someting extraordinary if he brought them together for a concert at London's Cafe OTO, this boundary-pushing album the indisputably successful result.
Musson, Rachel / Pat Thomas / Mark Sanders
Shifa - Live In Oslo
(577 Records)
Performing as part of the Blow Out Festival 2019, the UK improvising trio Shifa, meaning "healing", of Rachel Musson on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, and Mark Sanders on drums, are captured live in Oslo for four dramatic and masterful collective improvisations, passionate and building works, releasing their tension and rebuilding in powerful waves.
Musson, Rachel
I Went This Way
(577 Records)
UK improvising saxophonist Rachel Musson incorporates spoken word text and daring instrumental experimentation in a large work for an 8-piece ensemble of bass, sax, and strings, with narration in a through-composed text written by Musson that explores the process of improvisation, and her reflections on the experiential process of making music.
Carter, Daniel / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver
Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1
(577 Records)
After decades playing together, the quartet of Daniel Carter on tenor sax, trumpet & flute, Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, release the first of two planned studio albums, with two extended and remarkably warm collective excursions bookending a shorter "Scintillate", in an exceptionally solid album of masterful modern jazz.
VCDC (Motland / Lonberg-Holm / Solberg / Gjerstad)
Insult
(FMR)
Following their 2011 album on the Norwegian Hispid label, the quartet of clarinetist Frode Gjerstad, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, drummer Stale Liavik Solberg and vocalist Stine Janvin Motland perform two excellent extended improvisations at Galleri Sult in Stavanger.
Templeton, Gavin
Asterperious Special
(Nine Winds)
A sophisticated modern jazz album from alto saxophonist Gavie Templeton, music based on his grandfather's experience as an Air Corps navigator in WWII, performed in a quartet with pianist Gary Fukushima, bassist Darek Oles, and drummer Joe Labarbera.
Barno, Niklas / Joel Grip / Didier Lasserre
Can't Stop Snusing
(Ayler)
The Snus trio of Niklas Barno (trumpet), Joel Grip (bass) and Didier Lasserre (drums) return for their second album, an addictive mix of free jazz and free improv, subtle to skronking music of great beauty and power.
Davis, Kris
Aeriol Piano
(Clean Feed)
The debut solo CD from in-demand pianist Kris Davis (Paradoxical Frog, Novela, Good Citizen, Anti-House), an absorbing and innovative album of original numbers and standards played inside and out of the piano.
Zed Trio
Lost Transitions
(Ayler)
Frenetic, intense, pyrotechnic free jazz including a "Zed Leppelin Crash Test" from the trio of saxophonist Heddy Boubaker, electric guitarist David Lataillade, and drummer Frederic Vaudaux.
Sanchez, Angelica
A Little House (solo piano)
(Clean Feed)
Pianist Angelica Sanchez's debut solo record, a beautiful mix of meditative, introspective original compositions as well as pieces by Ornette Coleman, Hank Thompson and a Brazilian folk song.
Antunes, Hugo
Roll Call
(Clean Feed)
A quintet of two drummers and two saxophonists playing the music of leader and bassist Hugo Antunes in pieces designed to foster musicial situations and real-time composition.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC