snobb New Millennium, partially the second decade, in creative jazz is very much a drummer's time. For long time drummers were known mostly as collaborators no leaders with few exemptions. During last decade or more we experienced a peak of drummers as leaders on a world jazz scenes(as rule - drummers-composers). Many of them are responsible for most interesting jazz coming from last two decades. Whit Dickey is one of them.

Seasoned New-York-based drummer Whit Dickey was better known as Matthew Shipp and David S. Ware bands member. In 1998 he started leader's career. "Vessel In Orbit" is his return to AUM Fidelity, the label, responsible for his debut as leader, and his first new band almost for a decade. Dickey trio with his old collaborator pianist Matthew and violist Mat Maneri plays complex music, demonstrating almost intuitive interplay between members.

The music is dark, free, not too loud and well organized. Compositions are credited to all trio members, still central album's part sounds more like improvisation. There are some chaos, and some beauty in album's music, and looking from six years(and some more excellent Dickey albums, released later)distance, one can see where Dickey's glorious period started. Very soon the drummer will concentrate on more composed music and will release several albums(with different small bands)which will push him on the forefront of todays creative jazz scene.

snobb Yesterday I used the rare opportunity to visit a retrospective exhibition of renown avant-garde artist, probably better known in Europe than in the States, Marina Abramovic. I made a 200 kilometres-long round trip on a warm summer day, and it was worth it. There were many Abramovic filmed happenings demonstrated on the big screens in a modern art gallery, in total darkness, many screens placed at the same hall. There was one, where she is cutting a five-pointed star around her belly button with a razor blade (so-called "Thomas Lips"), filmed in the year 1975. It was very impressive emotionally (knowing that Marina was born in Belgrade, Serbia, in a family of high level Communist party functionaries of former Socialist Yugoslavia), but at the same time it looked like it's coming from very old past. From the times, when the world was divided between modernists and conservatives, at a time of aggressive feminism, sexual revolution and lots of freedoms coming soon. Quite surprisingly, looking back from now at these protests, and the revolution looks very "organic", and let say "natural". And yes, free jazz was a part of it.

In a modern world, which is thousands years away, we understand all these freedoms as natural, but in fact, we are living in a much more conservative world. We have just a few formal restrictions, but we are not really free. Our lives are complex, and nowadays free jazz is not all that free anymore.

American drummer Whit Dickey is one the great figures of New Millennium creative jazz, working with many leaders of the scene. On "Astral Long Form: Staircase In Space" Dickey leads a quartet with sax player Rob Brown, viola player Mat Manieri and bassist Brandon Lopez. Their music is free, but also well organized, clever, knotty and still dreamy at times. One can hear some (possibly) pre-composed pieces here and there, but it still sounds as spontaneous very much. Tagged by the artist as "channeling ecstatic cosmic vibration", it has nothing too much in common with space psychedelia of the 60s. Being still rooted in Coltrane's legacy, it is very a modern take on things, the music, which is miles away from free jazz of "summer of love" era, its not "organic" or "natural" at all. And it is not naïve, it comes from our clever and already slightly tired world, much more complex than last century's 60s.

And it is among best soundtracks of today's life too.

snobb AUM Fidelity offers two albums recorded by two different bands as a double set. Core duo of leader seasoned drummer Whit Dickey and alto saxophone player Rob Brown play on both, and them both are named Tao Quartet.

A first one, responsible for "Peace Planet" contains two stars - pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker. Whit Dickey who made a name playing with David S. Ware, was a regular member of Matthew Shipp bands from 1992 till now. Matthew Shipp and William Parker both were regular members of same Ware quartet as Whit Dickey. Rob Brown recorded two duet albums with Shipp, and he's a regular William Parker band's member for two and a half decade. All that means all quartet members have excellent communication on five well-composed pieces full of tunes and great solos of each member. Stylistically music of this album stays quite close to what William Parker play with his small bands - tuneful well-controlled adventurous jazz with lot of excellent piano playing coming from Matthew Shipp.

With no obvious leadership, "Peace Planet" is collaboration of four equal jazz improvisers of highest class, enough accessible listening to attract fans of any of members and multilayered and creative for repetitive listening (and far not only one).

Second set's album,"Box Of Light", is a way different. Dickey-Brown duo is completed till (Tao) quartet with trombonist Steve Swell and bassist Michael Bisio instead of William Parker. Sounding as much bigger band, this another Tao quartet play freer jazz often sounding as just spontaneous improvisations. Tons of brass coming from sax player and trombonist constantly soloing against each other with groovy rhythm section represents best free jazz in tradition of lofts era. Just as with many of similar recordings there are not much stays in memory after whole album's listening besides of excellent member's techniques and impressive interplay.

Looking from the label's point of view probably it's easier to sell two albums packed in one set than try selling each of them separately. From consumer's side the opinion on such packaging can be different though. There is no choice of purchasing only one of two set's albums, so buy both or don't buy at all. Surprisingly, during some last years it became a fashion of sort - finding new single release of William Parker, Wadada Leo Smith or some others renown avant-garde jazz artist is mission impossible. Be ready for double or triple set. Sometimes bigger sets contains music which has strong relation and must be presented in continuity, then it sounds at least understandable. Double sets containing two separate albums of different bands or triple sets filled till their size mixing new, archival and already released material in different combination smell a bit like marketing trick. Avant-garde jazz becomes commercial product?