Over the past few weeks, I've come across three superb recent tribute albums to pianist-composer Tadd Dameron. I posted most recently about Dameron here, here, here and here, plus here in 2013. The recent ones that came to my attention are Ferit Odman's Dameronia With Strings (2015), Joe Magnarelli's If You Could See Me Now (2019) and Vanessa Rubin's The Dream Is You (2019).
Ferit Odman's Dameronia With Strings (Equinox)—Turkish drummer Ferit Odman leads a group fronted by trumpeter Terell Stafford. The balance includes Danny Grisset (p); Antoine Silverman, Diane Monroe and Tamara DeMent (vln); Chris Cardona (viola); Emily Brausa and Clarice Jensen (cello); Peter Washington (b); and David O'Rourke (arr,cond). The string arrangements are terrific and provide Stafford with dreamy support. Songs include On a Misty Night, If You Could See Me Now, Just Plain Talkin', Smooth as the Wind, Look Stop & Listen, You're a Joy, Our Delight and Soultrane. Go here.
Here's On a Misty Night...
Joe Magnarelli's If You Could See Me Now (Cellar). Magnarelli's fleshy trumpet and flugelhorn take center stage backed by Ralph Moore (ts), Anthony Wonsey (p), Dezron Douglas (b) and George Fludas (d). Everything Mags plays is juicy, and he's at the top of his bop game here. The songs are Lady Bird, On a Misty Night, Bula Beige, The Tadd Walk, If You Could See Me Now, The Dream Is You, I Think I'll Go Away, Sando Latino and Super Jet. Go here.
Here's The Tadd Walk...
Vanessa Rubin's The Dream Is You (Nibur). Delivering songs with beautiful intonation and phrasing, Rubin has the perfect voice for Dameron's work. She has done her homework by studying jazz history's great singers but resisting sounding like anyone in particular. Instead, she relies on her own cozy, intimate approach and bravely takes on Dameron standards and rarities. Rubin is backed by a nifty big band with punchy arrangements. The songs are Lady Bird, Kitchenette Across the Hall, If You Could See Me Now, Weekend, On a Misty Night, Never Been in Love, Next Time Around, Good Bait, Reveries Do Come True (The Dream Is You), Whatever Possessed Me, You're a Joy and I Think I'll Go Away. Go here.
Here's Reveries Do Come True (the Dream Is You)...
A special thanks to Malcolm Walker.