# CD review: Whit Dickey Trio – Expanding Light 2020: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2020/09/13/cd-review-whit-dickey-trio-expanding-light-2020-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2020-09-13T16:51:28+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Expanding Light is a compelling trio session where the ideas emerge and unfold
with vehement passion. Drummer Whit Dickey, a longtime adherent of the creative 
downtown free jazz movement of NY, teams up here with saxophonist Rob Brown, a close
collaborator for more than 30 years, and, for the first time, with the 32-year-old
rising star bassist Brandon Lopez. **

“The Outer Edge” kicks off the album with the bandleader flaunting an expedite work
with the kick drum and creating giddy excitement through persistent and controlled
cymbal textures. Brown’s imaginative zigzags are thrown in a minute, expressing 
melodic and rhythmic insight. The bass enters at a later time, affixing a regular
pace that accelerates into an unpretentious, snappy swing. Before the final section
arrives with a Dolphy-esque pose and coarse hi-hat attacks, Dickey embraces his 
percussive speech with elan.

An active dialogue between pizzicato bass and brushed drums occurs on “Desert Flower”.
Lopez’s apparently aimless moves end up in a sturdy ritualized groove, which, with
Dickey’s assistance, creates a solid base of support for Brown’s thoughtful developments.

A fluid arco bass legato permeates “Plateau” with a meditative quality but also 
tension. The pressure is heightened by the boldness of the percussion treatment 
and intricate saxophone practices that accommodates a number of spiritual moments
worthy of Coltrane.

The title cut, an off-the-cuff excursion with potent layers of energy, has intertwined
trajectories established by bass and drums as its most attractive feature. Accordingly,
beautifully designed textures become the natural outcome of the formidable combination
between loose-limbed bass articulations and crisp percussive routines.

By comparison, it’s Brown’s saxophone that is designated as the nerve center of 
the fervently prayerful “The Opening”. The saxophonist blows with volcanic strength
and invincible perseverance while the rhythm section guarantees compact rhythmic
fluxes by encapsulation of droning bowed bass and some stirring drumming.

Free jazz is in very good hands with this excellent trio.

1. The Outer Edge
 2. Desert Flower 3. Plateau 4. Expanding Light 5. Möbius 6. The
Opening

**Rob Brown – alto sax**
 **Brandon Lopez – bass** **Whit Dickey – drums**

![Whit Dickey Trio - Expanding Light - Amazon.com Music](https://i0.wp.com/images-
na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/515EOAjaYtL._SL1200_.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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