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That Tadd Dameron album is a bit uneven. There is a roster of the finest talent and Dameron's writing is as beautiful as ever, but I can't help thinking that it is not as good as it should have been. I remember loaning the CD to my Dad and his initial comment was how dated it sounded for the time. That probably nails it for me - it includes a line up of some of that era's greatest talent yet the album sounds like it could have been made about 15 years earlier. If you think what Gil Evans was producing at this time, it is almost anachronistic even though I am grateful that Dameron had the opportunity to put this scores down in the studio. I suppose that Tadd Dameron is always seen as the composer of some of be-bop's most exquisite melodies however it is worthwhile recalling that he had already had a successful career as a composer / arranger for bands such as Harlan Leonard stretching back to around 1937/8 .i.e. at the point at which Benny Goodman was riding high as the "King of Swing" and someone like Fletcher Henderson was calling the shots as to how big band charts should be written. I know Gil Evans was also writing for the like of Skinnay Ennis at this time too yet I feel that Dameron's time had really come and gone by the time he produced this record - some of the charts , such as "Swift as the wind" having actually been written for a Benny Goodman tour of Europe. Still, Dameron's most beautiful composition "On a misty night" managed to get recorded for posterity.
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