Composed and arranged by Thad Jones
On this recording: Thad Jones (flg), Snooky Young, Danny Moore, Jimmy Nottingham, Richard Williams (tps), Eddie Bert, Benny Powell, Jimmy Knepper (tbs), Cliff Heather (b tb), Jerome Richardson (ss, as, fl), Jerry Dodgion (as, cl), Joe Farrell (ts, cl), Eddie Daniels (ts, cl), Joe Temperley (bari, b cl), Roland Hanna (p), Barry Galbraith (g), Richard Davis (b, el b), Mel Lewis (d) A&R Studios, NYC, June 18, 1969
From Bill Kirchner's 1994 liner notes to The Complete Solid State Recordings of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra Mosaic set:
Big Dipper, another unused Basie chart from the genesis of the Jones/Lewis orchestra is an attractive swinger, a 16-bar blues. There's a brief, spare contribution from Roland Hanna, more plunger from Jimmy Nottingham and a mixture of melodic and intense elements from Eddie Daniels. The piece as a whole is simple and to the point, and considering whom it was written for, that's as it should be.
Incidentally, "Big Dipper" is a reference to the part the constellation played in the Underground Railroad to help escaping slaves navigate north.
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