This is a record that invites two different approaches to reviewing. Firstly, it presents a dozen unknown, or relatively obscure, works by Tadd Dameron that have never or only seldom been recorded. Hence there's the question of assessing whether pieces written for Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Harlan Leonard and Jimmie Lunceford stand comparison with such standards by the same pen as ‘Good Bait’ or ‘Our Delight’. Secondly, it contains the work of numerous California-based musicians, whose collective talents are significant in our ability to assess the music itself. So, firstly, the music here shows a writer of real imagination, deft at ballads such as ‘Take A Chance On Spring’ and ‘Never Been In Love’ (both of which had previously been recorded by Karin Krog), and able to craft blowing vehicles so well-structured that we almost think we already know them, such as ‘The Search. But, and here's the problem with the album, most of the performances are well below the standard of the best-known recordings of Dameron himself. Maybe the yardstick should be the 1953 nonet that recorded under Dameron's leadership for Prestige, with Clifford Brown and Benny Golson in the ranks, and which produced such standards as ‘Dial B for Beauty’ or ‘Philly J.J. Nothing here gets close to that realisation of Dameron's vision, and some tracks are spoiled by the leader (and Dameron expert) Paul Combs' dodgy intonation and fumbling fingering. Out of the whole album two tracks stand out as indicating what this band might have been capable of with more ruthless editing or consistent performance standards. One is the instrumental ‘Don't Forget It’, written in 1942 while Dameron was with Lunceford, which has a strong melody that carries over into the blowing, and on which trumpeter Derek Cannon performs particularly well. But the pièce-de-resistance is ‘Take A Chance On Spring’, beautifully sung by Danielle Wertz. It may seem harsh to be so critical of these renditions, but if you're going to try to rehabilitate a largely forgotten composer, then it's only fair to release the best possible performances.