Whit Dickey is a somewhat mysterious figure. Anyone who was paying attention to The Music during the mid-90's will know him as the tremendous and uniquely gifted drummer who spent full part-and-parcel time with the phenomenal groups of David S. Ware and Matthew Shipp. To recap, Whit provided the trap-set foundation, pulse and flow to the deep classic sides Third Ear Recitation, Cryptology, DAO, Circular Temple, Flow of X, and Critical Mass (and Elsewhere by the Joe Morris Ensemble) during that time.

In 1996, after parting ways with both of these groups, Whit went through a period of contemplation, woodshedding, and re-alignment. He gave proper time to his compositional urges, and developed material for his full debut as a leader. He recorded Transonic in January of 1997, along with long-time compatriot Rob Brown on alto sax and 'young' Chris Lightcap on bass. Released on AUM Fidelity in 1998, it was voted #3 in the Cadence Readers Poll for Top Records of that year.

In 1999, Whit moved from his long-time dwelling in Brooklyn to an enclave a couple of hours north of NYC, into the country. That summer, during the downtime of reading mystery novels with a broken toe, he developed a new appreciation for the syncretic relationship between air frequencies and dance response. At the end of the summer, he decided to create a new document with these insights playing a large part thereof. The result was Big Top, recorded in November of that year and released on Wobbly Rail in the early summer of 2000.

As with all of these Artists, but perhaps quite a bit more so in Whit's case, his full story remains to be told. - SJ

Discography as a Leader:
In A Heartbeat (with Roy Campbell, Jr., Rob Brown, Joe Morris, Chris Lightcap) Clean Feed 2005
Coalescence (with Roy Campbell, Jr., Rob Brown, Joe Morris) Clean Feed 2004
Prophet Moon (with Rob Brown, Joe Morris) Riti 2003
Life Cycle (with Matthew Shipp, Rob Brown, Mat Maneri, Rob Brown) AUM Fidelity 2001
Big Top (w/ Joe Morris, Rob Brown, Chris Lightcap) Wobbly Rail 2000
Transonic AUM Fidelity 1998

with David S. Ware:
DAO Homestead 1996
Oblations and Blessings Silkheart 1996
Cryptology Homestead 1995
Earthquation DIW 1995
Third Ear Recitation DIW 1993

with Matthew Shipp:
The Flow of X 2.13CD 1997
Prism Brinkman 1996
Critical Mass 2.13CD 1994
Points Silkheart 1992
Circular Temple Quinton/Infinite Zero 1991

with Joe Morris:
Elsewhere Homestead 1996

with Rob Brown and Joe Morris:
Youniverse Riti 1992