Walter Roland Dickerson (born April 16, 1928, or 1931 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, – died May 15, 2008) was a jazz vibraphone musician most closely associated with post-bop. After two years of service in the Army, he graduated from Morgan State University in 1953. He settled in California in 1955. He gained attention by leading a band that included Andrew Hill and Andrew Cyrille. But it was his time in New York City where he really got noticed. He was named the best new artist by Downbeat in 1962. He also worked in NYC with John Coltrane, while Sun Ra was his sideman. He took a break in jazz from 1965 to 1975, but he returned to the scene with Andrew Hill (and later Sun Ra) after a brief hiatus. In May 2008, he died from cardiac arrest. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.
