Largely continuing the blueprint of A Sense of Direction,
Relativity finds
Walt Dickerson mixing standards with adventurous yet upbeat originals. This time around, though, there's a subtext to
Dickerson's standards selection: all three -- "It Ain't Necessarily So," "I Can't Get Started," and "Autumn in New York" -- had been previously recorded by
Milt Jackson, which invited explicit comparisons and gave
Dickerson a chance to show off how distinctive and pioneering his
Coltrane-influenced approach to vibes really was. As for his originals,
Dickerson is once again in a good mood, offering bursts of up-tempo energy in "Steppin' Out" and the title track, as well as a playfully swinging tribute to his eight-year-old sister titled "Sugar Lump." On the more cerebral side, there's a free-form dialogue with bassist
Ahmed Abdul-Malik, "The Unknown," which features some of
Dickerson's freest playing. If there is a flaw with
Relativity, it's that it doesn't have quite the same spark of revelation as
Dickerson's first two albums; critics were beginning to identify his brief note clusters and stop-start phrasing as stylistic trademarks, and aside from the duet with
Abdul-Malik, the record doesn't really push
Dickerson's sound into new territory. Still, taken independently of context,
Relativity is another fine recording and one of the better pieces of
Dickerson's underappreciated legacy.