Dameron

On tunes such as Dameron's "Whatever Possess'd Me" and Gershwin's "Embraceable You" (famously bop-ized by Charlie Parker), you sense the absence of the firm baton provided by Gunther Schuller on Rush Hour and Manny Albam on Celebrating Sinatra.

Sonic Youth, Stereolab Fall Short ��� Lovano 52nd St. by Way of Cleveland 2000

Dameron was a passable pianist, but he found his calling first as an arranger, then as a composer who crafted not just melodies and chords but fully-instrumented charts for Harlan Leonard's Kansas City Orchestra, then Jimmie Lunceford, Count Basie, Billy Eckstine and Dizzy Gillespie.

Madd About Tadd Con Chapman 2011

Much of Dameron's music is still in print, including his complete Blue Note sessions, and there have been both tribute bands (Dameronia) and recordings of his music by all-star groups (Continuum, “Mad About Tadd”).

Madd About Tadd Con Chapman 2011

Dameron's principal interpreter was Fats Navarro and while the association produced memorable music, it may also have contributed to his downfall.

Madd About Tadd Con Chapman 2011

An unabashed romantic in a guild that, like the butcher's union, isn't supposed to sample the marbled inventory that it handles on the job, Dameron tried to marry the sentimental products of Tin Pan Alley with the hard-edged experiments of be-bop.

Madd About Tadd Con Chapman 2011

Tadley Ewing Peake “Tadd” Dameron once described himself as “the most misplaced musician in the business,” and one needn't call the missing persons bureau of the jazz precincts to determine that he may have been right.

Madd About Tadd Con Chapman 2011

Mr. Golson is widely considered among jazz's most prolific living composers, and heir to Billy Strayhorn and Tadd Dameron 's sensual-sophisticated style.

Serving That Uptown Sound Marc Myers 2012

You have probably heard Dameron's music even if you don't know it; he wrote jazz standards such as “Good Bait,” “Hot House,” “Lady Bird” and “If You Could See Me Now,” a tune inspired by a riff of Gillespie's that became a hit for Sarah Vaughan.

Madd About Tadd Con Chapman 2011

While Dameron is known for his lush and yet surprising harmonies, he was no mere effete aesthete.

Madd About Tadd Con Chapman 2011

Dameron became a user of the drug, which has filled the long, lonely and boring stretches between gigs for many jazz musicians, and he eventually ended up going to jail for it in 1959.

Madd About Tadd Con Chapman 2011