Credits:

Walt Dickerson Sun Ra

Description:

A largely overlooked duo improv date recorded on July 11, 1978, by the Danish jazz impresario Nils Winther, Visions matches Walt Dickerson’s cool vibes with Sun Ra’s idiosyncratic piano in a way that shows both men’s contrasting styles to surprisingly cohesive effect. This was not the first time Dickerson and Ra had recorded together; producer Tom Wilson had used the duo on the soundtrack of the 1966 film Impressions on a Patch of Blue. This was their first extended series of duo improvs, however, and each seems to know exactly when to let the other hog the spotlight for a while, as during the moment toward the end of the opening “Astro,” when Dickerson lays out and lets Ra launch into a two-fisted free solo. Similarly, Ra leaves the extended opening of “Utopia” almost entirely to Dickerson, adding only a few explosive thumps and some Paul Bley-style picking and strumming of the piano