In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Acknowledgments Books of this nature are, in a sense, the work of many people. I could not possibly have managed to write this account without the help and cooperation of others. First I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, Valerie Wilmer, whose generous and steadfast support of this project was invaluable. Among her many important contributions to this book are her interviews, made on my behalf, with Ivor Mairants and Jack Parnell. Also due for special thanks are Don Sickler, who fits into several of the categories below and who helped me gain access to some of Dameron’s music that might not have been available to me otherwise; Bertand Uberall, for his invaluable help in locating music in the Copyright Office and his great generosity of spirit; and Lewis Porter, whose support of this project was key in making possible the book in your hands and whose guidance and friendship have helped me in so many ways. Then there are all those who have given me their time in interviews: Chris Albertson, Art Blakey, Edgar and Barbara Blakeney, Jeannie Cheatham, Buddy Crewe, Dorothy Dameron, Mia Dameron, Clem De Rosa, Gil Fuller, Benny Golson, Carl Hayse, Venus Irving-Prescott, Ron Javorsky, Hank Jones, Orin Keepnews, Stan Levey, James Moody, Dan Morgenstern, Billy Paul, Cecil Payne, Charlie Rouse, Jimmy Scott, Willie Smith, Thomas Stewart, Myron Styles, Myra Taylor, Gerald Wilson, and George Ziskind. Many have taken the time to share with me what they could, which was often a valuable piece of information: Tony Bennett, Ray Brown, Dave Burns, Benny Carter, Emil Charlap, Caesar Dameron Jr., Denise Dameron, Frank Driggs, Dizzy Gillespie, Loraine Gordon, William P. Gottlieb, Charles Haddix , Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Arthur Howard, Milt Jackson, Donald Kennedy , Val Kent, Charlie Lake, Yusef Lateef, Al Liggins, Don Manning, Charlie Mariano, Neal Martin, Jackie McLean, Sam Noto, Hod O’Brien, Fr. Peter O’Brien, Sam Rivers, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, William “Shep” Shepherd, xviii aCkNowLeDGMeNtS Floyd Standifer, Bobby Tucker, Stanley Turrentine, Paul Verrette, and Jimmy Williams. Others gave me important references, facilitated access to interviewees, or shared their personal resources: Bob Blumenthal,Mark Cantor,Joe Ciavardone, Elaine Cohen, John Conant, Leo Curran, Peter Bodge, Dr. William Fielder, Michael Fitzgerald, Mark Gardner, Larry Glover, William Gottlieb, Hilliard Green, Maxine Harvard, Dick Johnson, Anne Kuebler, Joe Lovano, Michael Moran, Stuart Morgan, Joe Mosbrook, Ted Pease, Michael Pedecin, Harvey Pekar, Vincent Pelote, Leif Bo Petersen, Brian Priestley, Vanessa Ruben, Gray Sargent, Buddy Sullivan, Jeff Sultanof, Ray Whitehouse, and Melvin Williams. I am also grateful to the following for specific permissions to quote from manuscripts, documents, and copyrighted material. Peter O’Brien, executive director of the Mary Lou Williams foundation, for the transcription of the“Mary Lou” piano part and for correspondence with Tadd Dameron; Frank Driggs, for quotations from arrangements written by Tadd Dameron held in the Frank Driggs Collection of Lunceford Orchestrations and for a poster from his collection ; Leonard Whitcup, Inc., and Tee Pee Music Co. for the use of“Bewildered,” by Teddy Powell and Leonard Whitcup; Twenty-Eighth Street Music, for the use of “A Blue Time,”“Don’t Forget It,”“Fred’s Delight,”“Never Been in Love,” “Pan-Dameronium,” and “Sando Latino,” all by Tadd Dameron; Val Wilmer, for photographs from her collection; Mia Dameron, for photographs from her collection; and the Institute of Jazz Studies, for the reproduction of a poster from its collection. This book could not have been written without the help of the fine people at the Special Collections Department of the Library of the University of Arizona ; Boston Public Library; Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon; Spaulding Library at the New England Conservatory of Music; the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, Newark Campus; the library of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland; the Music Library at Yale University; the National Archives, New York; the National Museum of American History (NMAH) Archives Center of the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress,Washington, DC; the New York Public Library and its branches: the Library for the Performing Arts, and the Schomburg Center for Research In Black Culture. Other institutions that helped my research are American Federation of Musicians locals 9-535 (Boston), 92 (Buffalo), 4 (Cleveland), and 7 (Los Angeles), and the Cambridge, Massachusetts, Police Department. Among the many individuals at these institutions not mentioned elsewhere are Nishani Frazier, Tad Hershhorn, Reuben Jackson, Maria Jane Loizou, Joseph Peterson, Marc Pinto, and Deborra Richardson, who were particularly helpful. [3.138.122.4] Project...

Share