Walt Dickerson was an American jazz vibraphonist born as Walter Roland Dickerson on April 16, 1928, in Philadelphia. Dickerson achieved professional recognition for a musical career characterized by post-bop jazz and for being named the best new artist by the magazine Down Beat in 1962. Dickerson achieved professional recognition for a career that began after he graduated from Morgan State University in 1953 and settled in California. His recording career began with the debut studio recording This Is Walt Dickerson! (1961) released on the label New Jazz. Dickerson achieved professional recognition for the studio recording A Sense of Direction (1961) and collaborating with Andrew Hill and Sun Ra on the studio recording To My Queen (1963). After becoming inactive between 1965 and 1975, Dickerson achieved professional recognition for signing with the label SteepleChase and releasing the studio recording Tell Us Only the Beautiful Things (1975). His discography included the studio recording Peace (1976) and the studio recording Life Rays (1982). Dickerson died on May 15, 2008.
