Dwight Dickerson

Although he is not a major name in the jazz world and doesn't have a huge catalog, Los Angeles native Dwight Dickerson is a talented and capable acoustic pianist/electric keyboardist who has, over the years, played alongside heavyweights like Gene Ammons, Red Holloway, and Albert "Tootie" Heath. A flexible musician and composer, Dickerson has entered a variety of jazz situations; his work has ranged from hard bop and funky, groove-oriented soul-jazz to modal post-bop. The veteran improviser (whose influences include Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Barron, and Bud Powell, among others) was born Lowell Dwight Dickerson in L.A. on December 26, 1944 and grew in that city, where he became active on the local jazz scene in the '60s. Not everyone Dickerson has played with over the years is a native or resident of Southern California; in fact, he has done his share of recording in other cities. In the early '70s, the Angelino appeared on Chicago tenor titan Ammons' Free Again album on Prestige, and the latter part of the decade found him being featured on a few LPs by baritone saxophonist Nick Brignola (including L.A. Bound and Burn Brigade). Dickerson (who occasionally sings but is primarily a piano-playing instrumentalist) started recording as a leader in the '80s, when he provided his debut album, Sooner or Later, for Discovery. In 1992, Dickerson recorded Dwight's Rights (which features Holloway on tenor sax) for the small Night Life label. The artists he played with as a sidemen in the '90s ranged from Holloway to saxman Rickey Woodard and singer Michael Martin. And in the early 2000s, he was featured on singer David Coss' Simple Life album. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide