Rhapsody Jazz Critics Poll: Debut Album of the Year

Slate Magazine: Top Ten Jazz Albums of 2011

JazzTimes Critics Poll: Top Fifty Albums of 2011

JazzTimes Critic's Lists: Top Ten Albums of 2011

New York City Jazz Record: Album of the Year & Debut of the Year

All About Jazz: Top Ten Albums of 2011

Ottawa Citizen: Top Ten Albums of 2011 & Best Debut of 2011

"Mr. Dingman's own style stands out: he uses it not just for melody and percussion but also for sound, in long, smoky chords beaming out like floodlighting. The whole enterprise has the ring of the new, but you can imagine hearing it on WBGO, the local radio standard of the straight-ahead jazz tradition."
- Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

"Rich and full of unexpected twists but never less than approachable, Dingman's debut casts an atmospheric spell true to its name. Dingman emerges as a unique voice in his own right."
- Chris Barton, Los Angeles Times

"Chris Dingman's Waking Dreams is a very big, pleasant surprise... This is bracing music, with complex rhythms, brooding harmonies, but also crisp melodic hooks, and an underlying lyricism: a quiet, sometimes majestic beauty... Dingman is a leader worth following."
- Fred Kaplan, Stereophile

"Beautifully rendered and thoroughly accessible ... a work of art and form. To bring ideas into fruition - let alone ones from dreams - into music that's articulated at this level, is something to admire."
- Mark F. Turner, All About Jazz

"A lyrically resplendent masterpiece that resides in the upper echelon of modern-day jazz expositions."
- Glenn Astarita, Jazz Review

"The year is still relatively young, but Chris Dingman has already notched what's certain to be one of its watershed recordings: Waking Dreams, a gorgeous, contemplative sequence of moody original compositions played by an outstanding band."
- Steve Smith, Time Out New York

"There's no missing the work's impressive grace, ambition and sophistication. With this recording the multifaceted depth of Dingman becomes clearer, making his next move even more exciting."
- Peter Margasak, DownBeat Magazine

"First and foremost, what you get from this record is this strong, very mysterious, very enthralling atmosphere throughout."
- Kevin LeGendre, BBC 3, Jazz on 3

"Darkly revealing and transcendent music. From the serenity of the opening "Vijayanagara" to the urgent and dissonant "Jet Lag" and the tender ballad "Manhattan Bridge," Dingman has successfully captured the myriad moods of his conscious and unconscious life."
- Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times

"Vibraphonist Chris Dingman's debut as a leader is one of the essential recordings of our time."
- Rafael Vega Curry, El Nuevo Dia (Puerto Rico)

"Even during more conventional, scattergun listening experiences, the CD impresses mightily. Even a partial serving of Waking Dreams conveys a sense of its wide emotional range that runs from sombre and sad to jubliant and exploding with energy."
- Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen

"Vibraphonist Chris Dingman delivers a sure-footed and deeply lyrical debut, a showcase both for his luminous compositions and for his rapport with a network of peers"
- Nate Chinen, The New York Times

"Dingman is one to watch, and the gem-like Waking Dreams stands way out from the pack of myriad miscellaneous jazz platters. *****"
- Mark Keresman, ICON Monthly (PA)

"The inspired architecture of Chris Dingman's Waking Dreams [is] quite singular. The lush parade of songs that comprise the vibraphonist's debut has an enticing flow. From hazy reflections to jumpy squalls, the music made by his sextet explains itself with an unmistakeable grace."
- Jim Macnie, Tone Audio Magazine

"Vibraphonist Chris Dingman has become one of jazz's young leading lights."
- Michael Hamad, Hartford Advocate

"Dingman creates an illusionary landscape filled with shifting rhythms, richly tapered melodies and solos that rise easily from the mesmerizing sound textures. One of the best recordings of this (or any recent) year."
- Richard Kamins, Step Tempest

"The composition is part ars poetica, a creative manifesto that reveals the musicians personal investment in his craft and the project overall. "Waking Dreams" is a wonderfully layered and complex piece that resonates most strongly because of its attention to layering and polyrhythmic detail."
- Ebony Noelle Golden, Revivalist Music

"His own compositional creativity is on full display with Waking Dreams, an exquisite fourteen-movement suite being issued this month. Its harmonies, rhythms and textures reflect [an] abiding interest in non-Western musics."
- Paul Blair, Hot House

"Chris Dingman has already shown his improvisatory gifts and innate lyricism in Steve Lehman's quintet and octet and Harris Eisenstadt's Canada Day. His debut as a band leader, Waking Dreams, a suite, is a kind of continuous reverie in which densities shift and complexities arise to be ultimately resolved in washes of shimmering metallic overtones."
- Stuart Broomer, New York City Jazz Record

"Chris Dingman's Waking Dreams is a meticulously crafted album that's equally as strong as the sum of its parts."
- Anthony Dean-Harris, Nextbop.com