Dameronia

The Life and Music of Tadd Dameron

Subjects: African American Studies, Michigan and the Great Lakes, Art and Culture, Music, Jazz, Biography
Paperback : 9780472035632, 290 pages, 22 musical examples, 10 B&W photographs, 6 x 9, August 2013
Hardcover : 9780472114139, 290 pages, 22 musical examples, 10 B&W photographs, 6 x 9, November 2012
Ebook : 9780472028818, 288 pages, 22 musical examples, 10 B&W photographs, November 2012
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The first authoritative biography of jazz great Tadd Dameron

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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.

Paul Combs is a professional musician, composer, and educator.

"A composer and music educator, Combs is fully equipped to tackle the technical particulars of Dameron's work ... to readers with a musical background, particularly those interested in jazz composition and arranging, these probing and intelligent explorations of an unsung great's work make Dameronia an essential addition to their library."
Jazz Times

- Matt R. Lohr

Listen: Paul Combs discusses Tadd Dameron | All Things Considered, National Public Radio | March 9, 2013