One of the prettiest octet albums of the 1950s was Tadd Dameron's Fontainebleau. Recorded in March 1956, the album for Prestige featured Kenny Dorham (tp), Henry Coker (tb), Sahib Shihab (as), Joe Alexander (ts), Cecil Payne (bar), Tadd Dameron (p,arr), John Simmons (b) and Shadow Wilson (d). The regal quality of Dameron's compositions and arrangements are steeped in elegant romanticism yet remain in the bop realm. [Photo of Tadd Dameron above by William P. Gottlieb]
The players on the album fit together well, as if carefully selected for their tones. Dorham's soulful and spirited trumpet is paired with Coker's mournful trombone and the deliberate reeds of Shihab, Alexander and Payne. Behind them, the rhythm section swishes along, powered by Wilson. Dameron on piano is a force of nature.
For me, an incorrigible romantic, Fontainebleau is a concept-album, a tribute to the one-time palace and weekend getaway of the French nobility southeast of Paris. In truth, as Bill Kirchner pointed out in an email, the individual tracks have nothing to do with each other. As Bill notes, one of the songs, The Scene Is Clean, refers to Dameron's struggle with drug addiction and his cleaning up at the Federal Narcotics Hospital in Lexington, KY from 1958 to 1961.
But as a romantic, whenever I hear this album, I imagine Dameron crafting the music after seeing the landscape and Château de Fontainebleau. According to Ira Gitler's original liner notes, Dameron visited Fontainebleau when he was in Paris with Miles Davis in 1949. Even though there is no record that he was emotionally touched by the visual beauty and symmetry, it would be impossible not to be. The property's forest is astonishing, the lake dotted with white swans is overwhelming, and the massive chateau is nothing short of magnificent. Each blends into each other seamlessly, and Dameron's pieces do the same.
Again, none of this is necessarily the case in terms of Dameron's motivation or execution for this album. But for me, it brings the music together as one work. So, if we think of the first track, Fontainebleau, as the concept's overture, one can visualize the rising sun crashing through the foliage and across the sprawling lawns. The quick-paced Delirium conjurers the animals dashing about in the forest. The Scene Is Clean becomes an ode to the swans floating across the water without disturbing the surface. Flossie Lou captures the architectural exterior of the palace while Bula-Beige, clocking in at more than 11 minutes, is an emotional tour of the majestic interior.
Taken together, the album is as beautiful as a panoramic portrait of the expansive site. The music is delicate and cohesive, and one can imagine the solos celebrating the French vistas that dazzle from every angle. As Bill notes, Max Harrison "did a masterly piece on the Fontainebleau track in his landmark book of criticism, A Jazz Retrospect." Indeed. My point here only is that the music sounds so much richer imagining it as Dameron's tribute to impossible architectural beauty. Sometimes imagination is more exciting than reality.
Tadd Dameron died in 1965.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Tadd Dameron's Fontainebleau here.
JazzWax clips: Here's the complete album in track order:
Here's Fontainebleau...
Here's Delirium...
Here's The Scene Is Clean...
Here's Flossie Lou...
And here's Bula-Beige...
