Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Tadd Dameron: Fontainebleau & Magic Touch Revisited

Tadd Dameron: Fontainebleau & Magic Touch Revisited

By Chris May
October 27, 2024
View read count

Tadd Dameron: Fontainebleau & Magic Touch Revisited

There is much that is tragic about Tadd Dameron's story. The composer, arranger and pianist fell prey to the heroin epidemic that gripped New York's jazz world in the 1940s and 1950s. He did jail time for his addiction in 1959-60. He died at the woefully young age of 48 years in 1965. But there is nothing tragic about Dameron's legacy as a composer-arranger, the field in which he made his most important contribution to jazz. His work was unfailingly lush and beautiful and life enhancing.

Dexter Gordon

saxophone, tenor
1923 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Dexter Gordon called Dameron the "romantic" of modern jazz—meaning he was near peerless in evoking the love between two people (not Romantic in the sense of, say, Beethoven, as some have supposed).

In 2024, Dameron is best remembered for the contributions his compositions made to other people's careers. For instance... In 1946, "If You Could See Me Now" was the A-side of the first single

Sarah Vaughan

vocals
1924 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Sarah Vaughan released under her own name;

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane, who had recorded "Soultrane" on Dameron's album Mating Call (Prestige) in 1957, borrowed the word for the title of his breakthrough album the following year, which included Mating Call's "Good Bait";

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans included "Our Delight" on his debut album, New Jazz Conceptions (Riverside), in 1957, and recorded the first of several versions of "If You Could See Me Now" on the

Chet Baker

trumpet and vocals
1929 - 1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Chet Baker album Chet (Riverside) in 1959. The star-studded list goes on and on.

"If You Could See Me Now" and "Our Delight"—and Bill Evans—all pop up on Fontainebleau & Magic Touch Revisited, a sonically restored edition of Dameron's Fontainebleau (Savoy, 1956) and The Magic Touch (Savoy, 1962), the respectively octet and orchestral albums which booked the Mating Call quartet date. Both albums include "Fontainebleau" (check the YouTube below) and the The Magic Touch tracks include big band versions of other signature pieces including "On A Misty Night" and "Our Delight." Evans was the pianist on The Magic Touch. See below for personnel details.

As always with ezz-thetics editions, the music has been meticulously curated and the original releases' sound has been substantially enhanced by the label's sonic scientist Michael Br?ndli.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Fontainebleau:
Fontainebleau; Delirium; The Scene Is Clean; Flossie Lou; Bula-Beige.
The Magic Touch:
On A Misty Night; Fontainebleau; Just Plain Talkin��; If You Could See Me Now; Our Delight; Dial B for Beauty; Look Stop and Listen; Bevan��s Birthday; You��re a Joy; Swift as the Wind.

Personnel

Tadd Dameron

piano

Kenny Dorham

trumpet

Henry Coker

trombone

Joe Alexander

saxophone

Cecil Payne

saxophone, baritone

Sahib Shihab

woodwinds

John Simmons

bass, acoustic

Shadow Wilson

drums

Joe Wilder

trumpet

Clark Terry

trumpet

Ernie Royal

trumpet

Charlie Shavers

trumpet

Jimmy Cleveland

trombone

Britt Woodman

trombone

Julius Watkins

french horn

Leo Wright

woodwinds

Jerry Dodgion

saxophone, alto

Johnny Griffin

saxophone, tenor

Bill Evans

piano

Ron Carter

bass

Additional Instrumentation

Fontainebleau:
Tadd Dameron: piano; Kenny Dorham: trumpet; Henry Coker: trombone; Sahib Shihab: alto saxophone; Joe Alexander: tenor saxophone; Cecil Payne: baritone saxophone; John Simmons: double bass; Shadow Wilson: drums.
The Magic Touch (collective personnel):
Joe Wilder, Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Charlie Shavers: trumpets; Jimmy Cleveland, Britt Woodman: trombones; Julius Wakins: French horn; Leo Wright, Jerry Dodgion: alto saxophones and flutes; Johnny Griffin: tenor saxophone; Tate Houston: baritone saxophone; Bill Evans: piano; George Duvivier, Ron Carter: double bass; Philly Joe Jones: drums; Barbara Winfield: vocals (9, 14).

Album information

Title: Fontainebleau & Magic Touch Revisited | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Ezz-thetics

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Josh Johnson: Unusual Objects and Sa...
< Previous

New music from Richard D Ruttenberg,...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.