Whit Dickey Trio - Expanding Light (2020)

On this breathtaking debut the new Whit Dickey Trio shines a powerful collective invention. Expanding Light teams the veteran drummer with one of his most long-standing collaborators, saxophonist Rob Brown, and for the first time with the young firebrand bassist Brandon Lopez. The album maintains a visceral ferocity even at it's most abstract and quieter moments, a sonic territory that the drummer refers to as "free grunge", influenced as much by Nirvana at their finest as by the holistic experimentation of Dickey's mentor, legendary percussionist Milford Graves. The creative renaissance Whit Dickey embarked on with the stunning and acclaimed 2019 double-album by his Tao Quartets continues mightily.Dickey & Brown have worked together for over 30 years, forging an instinctual chemistry while still managing to surprise one another with a mutual penchant for risk-taking. Lopez, born a year before Dickey and Brown began playing together, has proved an ideal partner and has become a force on the NYC scene in recent years, with a relentless fervor and formidable power which has led to collaborations with the likes of John Zorn, Tyshawn Sorey, Chris Potter, and the New York Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden.