Dameronia: The Life and Music of Tadd Dameron

by Paul Combs

Dameronia is the first authoritative biography of Tadd Dameron, an important and widely influential figure in jazz history as one of the most significant composers and arrangers of jazz, swing, bebop, and big band. He arranged for names like Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Jimmie Lunceford, and Dizzy Gillespie and played with Bull Moose Jackson and Benny Golson. This book sets out to clarify Dameron's place in the development of jazz in the post-World War II era. It also attempts to shed light on the tragedy of his retreat from the center of jazz activity in the 1950s. By tracing Dameron's career, one finds that until 1958, when he was incarcerated for drug related offenses, he was at the forefront of developments in jazz, sometimes anticipating trends that would not develop fully for several years. Dameron was also an important influence on several high-profile musicians, including Miles Davis, Benny Golson, and Frank Foster. Dameron was a very private man, and while in some aspects of his life he will probably remain an enigma, this book manages to give an intimate portrait of his life at a couple of key stages: the height of his career in 1949 and the brief but productive period between his release from prison and his death.

293 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 19, 2012

Reviews

[Peter P. Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

On Dameronia

This is a difficult book to embrace since the author spends great deal of the book questioning Dameron's own testimony. He doubts Dameroon's early achievements when it is widely known that certain musicians are prodigies.

He goes from doubting Cameron's possible early skills to parsing his "overnight" accomplishments.

Perhaps a better way to have written this book would have been to start with what is known and speculate on how Dameron might have acquired the knowledge.

Anything about this talented and obscure composers is valuable to students of music. I just wish this author could have been a little more respectful towards his subject. I rate the book 4 Stars for the subject and not the authors treatment of his subject

[Bookcat88 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this to be a tedious read. Instead of describing it as "authoritative" I would say much of it is speculative. Cameron may or may not have played with so-and-so musician's, might have said such-and-such, etc.. Granted it was difficult if not impossible to verify certain details but that doesn't change the end user experience of readability. I admire the work that went into research and writing, it just was difficult to get through.