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Whit Dickey is a vanguard jazz drummer, composer, and bandleader. In the 20th century he worked extensively with David S. Ware, Joe Morris, and Matthew Shipp. In the 21st he continued to collaborate -- with Ivo Perelman and bassist William Parker, among others -- but has increasingly led his own groups. He made his leader debut with Transonic in 1998. As Nommonsemble, comprising Dickey, Mat Maneri, and Shipp, released Life Cycle in 2001. In 2013 he formed Blood Trio with Sabir Mateen and Michael Bisio; they issued Understory, and in 2019, he recorded the double-length Peace Planet/Box of Light, with contrasting lineups. He created the Tao Forms label in 2020 for his own releases, including that year's Expanding Light and 2021's Garden of Jewels and Village Mothership. 2022 saw him release Reels with Shipp, MBefore with Bisio, Maneri, and Karl Berger, and two Whit Dickey Quartet albums, Astral Long Form: Staircase in Space and Root Perspectives.

Dickey was born in New York City in 1954 and raised in Bennington, Vermont. He began playing drums in his twenties, inspired by Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and Mahavishnu Orchestra's Birds of Fire, as well as the free sounds of Cecil Taylor and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. He participated in workshops at the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock and later studied with Milford Graves and Bill Dixon at Bennington College and at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he transcribed solos by Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk. He made his recording debut with Matthew Shipp's quartet in 1990 on the album Points for Sweden's Silkheart; made Youniverse in 1992, and was a member of Shipp's trio for Circular Temple the same year. In 1993, he claimed the drum chair in David S. Ware's group, appearing on the saxophonist's DIW debut Third Ear Recitation. He remained with Ware until 1996, playing on a handful albums including Earthquation, Cryptology, and Dao. Also in 1996, he joined Morris' group for Elsewhere, while continuing his work with Shipp.

Dickey took a year-long sabbatical in 1997, which he spent reinventing his playing style, meditating, and composing. He re-merged with his leader debut Transonic in 1998 for AUM Fidelity, with Brown on sax and flute, and bassist Chris Lightcap. He composed or co-composed each of the album's eight tracks. Big Top, for Wobbly Rail, was released two years later in a quartet setting with Morris on electric guitar. The album included two originals and covers of Eric Dolphy's "The Prophet" and Thelonious Monk's "Skippy." In 2001, Dickey recorded half-a-dozen of his compositions with Mat Maneri, Shipp, and Brown under the name Nommonsemble, which released Life Cycle on AUM Fidelity. A year later, he recorded as a member of the collective Trio Ahxoloxha on Prophet Moon with Morris and Brown. In 2004, he and bassist Dominic Duval played in saxophonist James Finn's trio for Opening the Gates, released by Cadence Jazz.

Dickey expanded his trio to a quartet with trumpeter Roy Campbell for a handful of albums including 2004's Coalescence, 2005's In a Heartbeat, and 2006's Sacred Ground. Also in 2006 he returned to play with Shipp's trio on Piano Vortex after a decade apart. Two years later he joined Morris and Brown in a collective and released Right Hemisphere for France's Rogueart label.

In 2009, he teamed up with multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter and pianist Eri Yamamoto for the universally acclaimed Emergence on Not Two. He played exclusively in Shipp's groups for the next two years on a series of albums that included the pianist's most acclaimed outing, Art of the Improviser. Also around this time, he met saxist Ivo Perelman through Shipp and the pair made their debut with The Clairvoyant for Leo Records; it marked the beginning of a periodic partnership that would result in a dozen albums. A year later the pair issued the duo set Tenorhood. In 2014, Dickey appeared with Shipp on the unnecessarily controversial Duke Ellington homage To Duke. Dickey and cornetist Kirke Knuffke issued the duo album Fierce Silence for Portugal's Clean Feed, all the while recording and performing in Perelman's various groups and Shipp's trio. In 2017, Dickey once again reunited with Shipp and Maneri for the trio session Vessel in Orbit on AUM Fidelity, and joined the pianist's quartet with Michael Bisio, and either Daniel Carter (Not Bound, For Tune, 2017) or Polish emigre Mat Walerian (Sonic Fiction, ESP-Disk, 2018) on saxophones and winds.

Dickey released his most expansive outing to date in July of 2019. Leading two groups of players called the Tao Quartets, he issued the double-disc offering Peace Planet/Box of Light on AUM Fidelity. The former group included Shipp, Brown, and bassist William Parker, while the latter featured sidemen Brown, Bisio, and trombonist Steve Swell. Recorded in Brooklyn during the winter of 2018 and 2019, it housed 11 compositions by the drummer that showcased his aesthetic ideas and playing strategies regarding the evolution of harmony, texture, and dynamic force.

In the spring and summer of 2019, Dickey cut two complete sessions with Jim Clouse at Park West Studios in Brooklyn. In March, the drummer teamed with Shipp and trumpeter Nate Wooley for the trio offering titled Pacific Noir, and in June, the drummer and pianist cut Reckoning, an improvised duo set. They were released together in a single budget-priced package by ESP-Disk in June of 2020 as Morph. It appeared exactly a week before Expanding Light on his Tao Forms label. The studio set featured the drummer's working trio with saxophonist Rob Brown and bassist Brandon Lopez. In January of the following year, Dickey released a trio effort with Ivo Perelman and Shipp titled Garden of Jewels, and in October, Village Mothership with Shipp and bassist William Parker.

Dickey was prolific in 2022. In March, Reels, a duo with Shipp, became the inaugural release from Burning Ambulance Music. A week later, Tao Forms issued the first of three releases: MBefore with Bisio, Maneri, and Karl Berger. In May, Astral Long Form: Staircase in Space appeared from the Whit Dickey Quartet with violist Maneri, bassist Brandon Lopez, and saxophonist Rob Brown. In October WDQ released Root Perspectives with a lineup that included Shipp, Lopez, and saxophonist Tony Malaby. ~ Thom Jurek

Cornetist and composer Kirk Knuffke is an adventurous performer with an ear for navigating avant-garde sessions as well as post-bop dates. Knuffke initially drew listeners' attention playing with Butch Morris in the mid-2000s, and has worked with similarly inventive artists including Uri Caine, Allison Miller, and Michael Formanek. A recipient of a Jerome Foundation composers grant, Knuffke has received praise for his own albums, like 2008's small group date Big Wig and 2011's duo recording Orange Was the Color. He has also released a bevy of trio albums, including 2015's Little Cross with Hamid Drake, 2017's Cherryco with Adam Nussbaum, and 2022's Gravity Without Airs with Matthew Shipp, all of which display his broad stylistic influences, touching upon bluesy swing and edgy free improvisation.

A native of Colorado, Knuffke studied with trumpeter Ron Miles and pianist Art Lande before relocating to New York City in 2005. Since that time, he has earned a reputation as both an in-demand sideman and bandleader, having performed with such artists as Roswell Rudd, William Parker, Uri Caine, Myra Melford, John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Billy Hart, Steven Bernstein, Jon Irabagon, and many others. He is a veteran member of several of Butch Morris' ensembles, having played on 2007's Nublu Orchestra Conducted by Butch Morris. He also performs regularly as a member of both drummer Matt Wilson's quartet and the Steve Lacy tribute ensemble Ideal Bread.

As a solo artist, Knuffke made his debut with 2008's Big Wig, which found him playing a mix of free jazz and more bop-oriented songs alongside trombonist Brian Drye, bassist Reuben Radding, and drummer Jeff Davis. He followed up with 2009's Garden of Gifts, a trio album with drummer Federico Ughi and guitarist Chris Welcome. Amnesia Brown, with clarinetist and guitarist Doug Wieselman and drummer Kenny Wollesen, appeared in 2010, followed by 2014's Exterminating Angel. He also has an ongoing duo project with pianist Jesse Stacken in which they explore the more obscure works by legendary jazz composers, such as the Thelonious Monk- and Duke Ellington-themed Mockingbird (2009) and the Charles Mingus-themed Orange Was the Color (2011).

In 2015, Knuffke joined drummer Hamid Drake and keyboardist Jamie Saft for Little Cross. That same year, he won Down Beat's Rising Star critics poll. He also delivered a second trio album, Arms & Hands, which featured bassist Mark Helias and drummer Bill Goodwin. A year later, he joined drummer Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom for Otis Was a Polar Bear, and reunited with Wilson for Beginning of a Memory. Cherryco, a trio effort with bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Adam Nussbaum, arrived in 2017. 2022's Gravity Without Airs also found Knuffke leading a trio, this time with veteran pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist Michael Bisio. ~ Matt Collar