This album is considered Walt Dickerson's masterpiece. It was his final date of the four he did for Prestige/New Jazz. Dickerson is to this day underrated, he was the most unique and original voice of the vibes or vibraphone to emerge in the 60s. He wasn't beholden to Milt Jackson or Lionel Hampton but was entirely his own man. He was called "the Coltrane of the vibes" for his sweeping and fast technique but this technique only allowed him to express his music better. This album is dedicated to Walt's wife, Elizabeth and hence the long title track is called "To My Queen". It's a suite of different moods and properties. After the title track is a great take on Irving Berlin's "How Deep is The Ocean" and the album ends with a duet between Walt Dickerson and bassist George Tucker on Billie Holiday's immortal "God Bless The Child". Dickerson is accompanied by pianist Andrew Hill who is always worth hearing for his originality. George Tucker as mentioned is on bass and the great Andrew Cyrille on drums. Tonight "To My Queen".

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related