Walt Dickerson • Relativity

Review by Steve Huey

Largely continuing the blueprint of A Sense of Direction, Relativity finds Walt Dickerson mixing standards with adventurous yet upbeat originals. This time around, though, there's a subtext to Dickerson's standards selection: all three -- "It Ain't Necessarily So," "I Can't Get Started," and "Autumn in New York" -- had been previously recorded by Milt Jackson, which invited explicit comparisons and gave Dickerson a chance to show off how distinctive and pioneering his Coltrane-influenced approach to vibes really was. As for his originals, Dickerson is once again in a good mood, offering bursts of up-tempo energy in "Steppin' Out" and the title track, as well as a playfully swinging tribute to his eight-year-old sister titled "Sugar Lump." On the more cerebral side, there's a free-form dialogue with bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik, "The Unknown," which features some of Dickerson's freest playing. If there is a flaw with Relativity, it's that it doesn't have quite the same spark of revelation as Dickerson's first two albums; critics were beginning to identify his brief note clusters and stop-start phrasing as stylistic trademarks, and aside from the duet with Abdul-Malik, the record doesn't really push Dickerson's sound into new territory. Still, taken independently of context, Relativity is another fine recording and one of the better pieces of Dickerson's underappreciated legacy.

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Reseña de Steve Huey

Continuando en gran medida con el proyecto de Un Sentido de Dirección, Relativity encuentra a Walt Dickerson mezclando estándares con originales aventureros pero optimistas. Esta vez, sin embargo, hay un subtexto en la selección de estándares de Dickerson: los tres -- "No es necesario", "No puedo empezar" y "Otoño en Nueva York" -- habían sido previamente grabados por Milt Jackson, lo que invitaba a comparaciones explícitas y daba a Dickerson la oportunidad de mostrar lo distintivo y pionero que era su enfoque de las vibraciones influenciado por Coltrano. En cuanto a sus originales, Dickerson está de nuevo de buen humor, ofreciendo ráfagas de energía de ritmo en "Steppin' Out" y la canción principal, así como un juguetón homenaje a su hermana de ocho años titulado "Sugar Lump". En el lado más cerebral, hay un diálogo de forma libre con el bajista Ahmed Abdul-Malik, "The Unknown", que presenta algunas de las interpretaciones más libres de Dickerson. Si hay un defecto en Relativity, es que no tiene la misma chispa de revelación que los dos primeros álbumes de Dickerson; los críticos estaban empezando a identificar sus notas breves y frases de parada y arranque como marcas estilísticas, y aparte del dúo con Abdul-Malik, el disco no empuja el sonido de Dickerson a un nuevo territorio. Aún así, tomado independientemente del contexto, Relativity es otra buena grabación y una de las mejores piezas del menospreciado legado de Dickerson.

1 Relativity 5:21
2 It Ain't Necessarily So 4:27
3 I Can't Get Started 5:06
4 Stepping Out 2:04
5 The Unknown 3:58
6 Sugar Lump 6:06
7 Autumn In New York 7:26

Bass – Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Drums – Andrew Cyrille
Piano – Austin Crowe
Supervised By – Esmond Edwards
Vibraphone – Walt Dickerson

Engineer [Recording] – Rudy Van Gelder
Recorded in Englewood Cliffs, NJ; January 16, 1962.

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