bebop
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...
jazz ensemble
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, m ...
Philly Joe Jones
Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American Jazz drumming, jazz drummer.
Biography Early career
As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio stat ...
in the 1980s that featured the original compositions and arrangements of
Tadd Dameron
Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron (February 21, 1917 – March 8, 1965) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist.
Biography
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dameron was the most influential arranger of the bebop era, but also wrote charts for swi ...
. They recorded three albums, two for
Uptown Records
Uptown Records is an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by old school rapper ‘Dr Jekyll’ - Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip-hop.
Beginnings and success
In ...
and the other for
Soul Note Records
Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz.
History
Black S ...
, and continued to perform even after Jones' death in 1985. The nonet, which included several of the composer's colleagues, attempted to create an "historically accurate" representation of Dameron's music.
Personnel
The original line-up included:
*
Johnny Coles
John Coles (July 3, 1926 – December 21, 1997) was an American jazz trumpeter.
Early life
Coles was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on July 3, 1926. He grew up in Philadelphia and was self-taught on trumpet.
Later life and career
Coles spent his ...
, fluegelhorn
*
Don Sickler
Don Sickler (January 6, 1944) is an American jazz trumpeter, arranger and producer.Britt Woodman
Britt Woodman (June 4, 1920 – October 13, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist.
Career
Woodman was a childhood friend of Charles Mingus, but first worked with Phil Moore and Les Hite. After service in World War II he played with Boyd Rae ...
Frank Wess
Frank Wellington Wess (January 4, 1922 – October 30, 2013) was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He was renowned for his extensive solo work; however, he was also remembered for his time playing with Count Basie, Count Basie's band duri ...
and
Cecil Payne
Cecil Payne (December 14, 1922 – November 27, 2007) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, New York. Payne also played the alto saxophone and flute. He played with other prominent jazz musicians, in particular Dizzy Gilles ...
Larry Ridley
Laurence “Larry” Howard Ridley II (born September 3, 1937) is an American jazz bassist and music educator. He is an inductee of the Indianapolis Jazz Hall of Fame.
Early life
Ridley was born on September 3, 1937, in Indianapolis, Indiana. ...
, bass
*
"Philly" Joe Jones
Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American jazz drummer.
Biography Early career
As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio station WIP. He wa ...
, drums
*Don Sickler and
John Oddo
John Frank Oddo (March 21, 1953 – April 2, 2019) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He is most notably associated as pianist and musical director for Woody Herman, Rosemary Clooney and Michael Feinstein.
Early life
John Oddo ...
, transcription
Later configurations included:
*
Virgil Jones
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the ''Eclogues'' ( ...
, trumpet
*
Benny Powell
Benjamin Gordon Powell Jr. (March 1, 1930 – June 26, 2010) was an American jazz trombonist. He played both standard (tenor) trombone and bass trombone.
Biography
Born Benjamin Gordon Powell Jr. in New Orleans, Louisiana, he first played pr ...
, trombone
*
Clifford Jordan
Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player and composer. Originally from Chicago, Jordan later moved to New York City, where he recorded extensively in addition to touring across ...
Dameronia performed at various jazz clubs, concert halls and festivals,
debuting in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
at Lush Life in 1982. In 1988 Dameronia was featured in a concert at
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center is an organization based in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center, the organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center (now Deutsche Bank Center) in October 2004. The organization seeks to “represent th ...
entitled "The Music of Tadd Dameron". The opening act was an all-star quartet featuring
Tommy Flanagan Thomas or Tom Flanagan may refer to:
* Thomas Flanagan (bishop) (1930–2019), American Roman Catholic bishop
* Thomas Flanagan (Irish politician) (died 1980), Irish civil engineer and politician
* Thomas Flanagan (priest) (1814–1865), English Ro ...
,
George Mraz
George Mraz (born Jiří Mráz; 9 September 1944 – 16 September 2021) was a Czech-born American jazz bassist and alto saxophonist. He was a member of Oscar Peterson's group, and worked with Pepper Adams, Stan Getz, Michel Petrucciani, Stepha ...
, Kenny Washington and
Charlie Rouse
Charlie Rouse (April 6, 1924 – November 30, 1988) was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and flautist. His career is marked by his collaboration with Thelonious Monk, which lasted for more than ten years.
Biography
Rouse was born in Wash ...
.
Discography
*1982 ''
To Tadd with Love
''To Tadd with Love'' is an album by drummer Philly Joe Jones' Dameronia which was recorded and released on the Uptown label in 1982.
Reception
The album was nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group at the 26th Annual Grammy Aw ...
'' (Uptown)
*1983 ''
Look Stop Listen
''Look Stop Listen'' (listed on label as ''Look Stop and Listen'') is an album by drummer Philly Joe Jones' Dameronia which was recorded and released on the Uptown label in 1983.
Reception
The album was nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Pe ...
'' (Uptown) with
Johnny Griffin
John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...
*1989 ''
Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt Paris
''Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt Paris'' is a live album by Dameronia, a jazz ensemble founded by Don Sickler and Philly Joe Jones that performed the compositions and arrangements of Tadd Dameron. It was recorded on May 30, 1989, roughly ...