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 century, he continued to collaborate with Ivo Perelman and bassist William Parker, among others, but increasingly he led his own groups. He made his leader debut with Transonic in 1998. Nommonsemble, comprising Dickey, Mat Maneri, and Shipp released Life Cycle in 2001. In 2013 he formed Blood Trio with Sabir Mateen and Michael Bisio, and put out 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, followed by 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.