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John Dikeman And The Origin Of The Species

By Mark Corroto
June 28, 2019
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If we were to go searching for saxophonist

John Dikeman

saxophone, tenor
b.1983

" data-original-title="" title="">John Dikeman's spirit animal, we might have to bypass beast for sapien. Let's just say his spirit animal is the father of punk, Iggy Pop. Like early music by The Stooges, Dikeman's sound makes reference to the music of both

Albert Ayler

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Albert Ayler and

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders. It's a shame we cannot go back in time (he was born in 1983) to substitute Dikeman for saxophonist Steven Mackay on Fun House (Elektra, 1970). The American-born (Wyoming) musician was schooled by

Milford Graves

drums
1940 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Milford Graves and

Joe Maneri

saxophone
1927 - 2009

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Maneri before taking up residence in Amsterdam. While he might fly a bit under the New York/L.A. jazz radar, Dikeman has made significant inroads bringing the New Dutch Swing mentality to listeners. He can be heard in Universal Indians (with

Jon Rune Strøm

bass, acoustic
b.1985

" data-original-title="" title="">Jon Rune Str?m, Tollef ?stvang), The

Wayne Horvitz

keyboards
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Horvitz European Orchestra, Twenty One 4tet (with

Luis Vicente

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Luis Vicente, Onno Govaert, Wilbert De Joode), Spinifex, Cactus Truck (with Jasper Stadhouders, Onno Govaert) and with many other European musicians including Dirk Serries, Colin Webster, Andrew Lisle, Alan Wilkinson. His collaborations with American artists include

William Parker

bass
b.1952

" data-original-title="" title="">William Parker,

Joe McPhee

woodwinds
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe McPhee,

Jeb Bishop

trombone

" data-original-title="" title="">Jeb Bishop,

Joshua Abrams

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Joshua Abrams,

Jason Roebke

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Jason Roebke,

Mike Reed

drums
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Reed, and

Frank Rosaly

drums
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Rosaly.

Like Iggy Pop, there is rawness about Dikeman's sound. More beast of prey than beast of burden. But also, like Iggy's secret membership in Mensa, Dikeman approach rises above the punk sensibilities of loud, fast, and out of control. Below are several new brief recordings Dikeman is selling at his shows. Interestingly, you have to find John Dikeman to find some of these discs.

Cactus Truck
Live In Siberia
Tractata Records/Akt-Produkt
2019

Clocking in at a brief 19? minutes, this blistering disc by the trio Cactus Truck was recorded live at the Energetik House Of Culture in Russia in July 2015. The trio of Dikeman, guitarist

Jasper Stadhouders

guitar, electric

" data-original-title="" title="">Jasper Stadhouders (

Ken Vandermark

saxophone
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Ken Vandermark's Made To Break) and drummer

Onno Govaert

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Onno Govaert are augmented by Russian bassist Wadim Dicke. Their rip, tear, crunch sound takes as much from

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman's Harmolodics as it does from the anarchist punk band The Ex. Everything about Cactus Truck can be heard on the appropriately titled thirty-seconds of "The Short One." It recalls both The Minutemen and

John Zorn

saxophone, alto
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">John Zorn's Naked City band, with the speed and force of a punch to the bread basket. Stretch that beating out to nineteen minutes, and "The Long One" brutalizes (with love) your ears with a certain shock and awe capable of raising

Peter Brötzmann

woodwinds
1941 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Br?tzmann's eyebrows. Stadhouders guitar attack is not unlike that of

Sonny Sharrock

guitar, electric
1940 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Sharrock's Machine Gun with Govaert in constant motion applying a downpour of drumming and Dicke pulsing the affair. Halfway through Dikeman drops in "La Marseillaise" and the ghost of Albert Ayler has risen. Stick a pin in here because Dikeman may just be the reincarnation of the Holy Ghost. To quote Ayler, "Trane was the father. Pharoah was the son. I was the Holy Ghost."

John Dikeman / Hamid Drake
Live In Chicago
Tractata
2019

It was a natural fit pairing saxophonist John Dikeman with

Hamid Drake

drums
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Hamid Drake. The drummer can be heard in duo with a who's who of free jazz improvisers like Peter Br?tzmann,

Fred Anderson

saxophone
1929 - 2010

" data-original-title="" title="">Fred Anderson,

Joe McPhee

woodwinds
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe McPhee,

Kidd Jordan

saxophone
1935 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Kidd Jordan,

Charles Gayle

saxophone
1939 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Gayle,

Mats Gustafsson

woodwinds
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Mats Gustafsson, etc. etc. It is only natural Dikeman and Drake record together. We can find two previous trio releases with bassist

William Parker

bass
b.1952

" data-original-title="" title="">William Parker, Live At La Resistenza (El Negocito/Tractata Records, 2015) and Cleaning the Mirror (Otoroku, 2015).

This recording from February, 2018 at Chicago's Slate Arts is one 37-minute set. The music takes us to the free jazz loft scene of the 1960s and 70s, when the giants

Rashied Ali

drums
1935 - 2009

" data-original-title="" title="">Rashied Ali,

Sunny Murray

drums
1937 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Sunny Murray,

Ronald Shannon Jackson

drums
1940 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Ronald Shannon Jackson,

Frank Lowe

saxophone, tenor
1943 - 2003

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Lowe,

Marion Brown

saxophone, alto
1931 - 2010

" data-original-title="" title="">Marion Brown and Arthur Rhames walked the earth. As with the names listed above, Dikeman is capable of a devastating saxophone attack, but with Drake's escort, the blast radius is contained. The drummer draws from an internal pulse, a sort of humanitarian vibration that coats the sound with an Albert Ayler love cry.

John Dikeman/Ernst Glerum
Spirituals
Doek/Raw
2019

Spiritual completes the circle that is the music of John Dikeman. As with the ecclesiastical influence in Albert Ayler's music, Dikeman shares a certain spirituality in his free jazz. Together with pianist Ernst Glerum, who took over

Misha Mengelberg

piano
1935 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Misha Mengelberg's chair after his passing in the ICP Orchestra, the saxophonist explores some traditional spirituals. The music comes from the same impulse as Ayler's Swing Low Sweet Spiritual (Osmosis Records, 1971),

Archie Shepp

saxophone, tenor
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Archie Shepp/

Horace Parlan

piano
1931 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Horace Parlan Goin' Home (SteepleChase, 1977), and

David Murray

saxophone, tenor
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">David Murray Spirituals (DIW, 1990).

Dikeman and Glerum allow you to set aside any aversion to sentimentality. That is probably where faith (God or your fellow man) come into play. But then Gospel has always played that role. Dikeman applies the perfect amount of vibrato and when needed works the upper register to great effect. The sympathetic paring at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam in 2018 thrills the audience and it's twenty minutes of music leaves you wanting so much more.

Spinifex
Soufifex
TryTone
2019

Another side of Dikeman's world comes to play in the sextet Spinifex. The bands long tenure has produced four previous recordings, all on the TryTone label. On their previous release Amphibian Ardour (2017) the band refashioned two compositions into Sufi traditional music of Kurdish (Iranian) origin, and the Qawali traditions from Pakistan. Here they follow up with an entire album's worth of the same. The music trades-off tight composed organization with blistering improvisation. The tight arrangements recall the Vandermark 5 recordings of the mid-2000s, where organization championed robust improvisation. Credit Gon?alo Almeida's solid bass platform and together with Philip Moser's drumming the Eastern sounds swing, or rock-out.

Tracks and Personnel

Live In Siberia

Tracks: The Long Track; The Short One.

Personnel: John Dikeman: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone; Jasper Stadhouders: guitar; Onno Govaert: drums; Wadim Dicke: bass. .

Live In Chicago

Tracks: Untitled.

Personnel: John Dikeman: tenor saxophone; Hamid Drake: drums.

Spirituals

Tracks: I Wish I Knew What it Felt To Be Free -Psalm; Angels Watching Over Me; Old Rugged Cross.

Personnel: John Dikeman: tenor saxophone; Ernst Glerum: piano.

Soufifex

Tracks: Confrerie; Drinks & Logistics; Zarbi Owj; AHAP; Unnecessary Lines; Marifa; Dikri.

Personnel: Tobias Klein: alto saxophone; Gon?alo Almeida: bass; Philip Moser: drums; Jasper Stadhouders: guitar; John Dikeman: tenor saxophone; Bart Maris: trumpet.

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