Count Basie: Stay On It

It says quite a bit when ensembles led by Basie and Dizzy Gillespie give equally convincing performances of a particular piece. But Tadd Dameron was a particularly gifted composer. He began his career with Harlan Leonard and his Rockets, and wrote beautiful songs and compositions for Billy Eckstine, Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan ("If You Could See Me Now" is considered a standard) and his own groups. "Stay On It" seems to have been a rehearsal or a test recording; no matrix was ever assigned, and the recording remained buried in the vaults until it was issued in France during the 1970s. Jacquet has the most solo space, but Edison makes a solid contribution as well.