Jazz Articles about Oliver Nelson

Sixteen Horns v. Six Strings

by Patrick Burnette
July 14, 2022

Big bands tempt the ambitious jazzer with their expansive possibilities for arrangements, the variegated colors they offer, and their sheer power. But, boy, those budgets! These days you need a generous label or a grant or two to make things work. We take a look at a very seventies example of the genre and then a brand new effort by a young woman barely old enough to drive. A guitar trio and a guitar solo fill out the episode, and ...

Various Artists: First Impulse: The Creed Taylor Collection 50th Anniversary

by Chris May
May 15, 2011

The headline news on this lavishly packaged, four-CD collection of the work of the Impulse! label's founding producer, Creed Taylor, is that it includes three previously unreleased tracks by John Coltrane. These were recorded during rehearsals for what would become the saxophonist's Impulse! debut, Africa/Brass, in 1961. They have a combined playing time of less than eight minutes, but as newly discovered Coltrane recordings are reduced to a trickle with the passage of time, the arrival of any such material, ...

Oliver Nelson: Oliver Nelson: The Argo, Verve and Impulse Big Band Studio Sessions

by Andrew Velez
July 14, 2007

The work of Oliver Nelson (1932-1975), saxophonist, composer and arranger (including composing orchestral and chamber music in non-jazz idioms), is remembered in this typically classy Mosaic six-CD set of 1962-1967 sessions. In his liner notes Nelson scholar and saxophonist and composer/arranger Kenny Berger observes, “The recordings in this set were made from the mid to late period of the last golden age of the studio recording in New York. Nelson's experience as a jazz soloist himself made ...

Oliver Nelson With Eric Dolphy: Screamin' the Blues

by Samuel Chell
March 14, 2007

Screamin' the Blues is an apt description of the soloists' approach on this 1960 session, here reissued as an RVG remaster, the first of three matching leader Oliver Nelson with avant-gardist Eric Dolphy. Although not as well-known as Nelson's masterpiece, Blues and the Abstract Truth (1961), the date is characterized, above all, by “generosity" on the part of all three principals, including the underrated trumpeter Richard Williams.

Nelson's tenor solo on the title tune is the equivalent of an operatic ...

Oliver Nelson: Screamin' The Blues

by Chris May
September 16, 2006

A gutsy, down-home, blues-drenched saxophonist who could make flames burst out of the bell of his horn, Oliver Nelson is probably best remembered for his back-room chores on other musicians' records. He arranged Jimmy Smith's biggest chart hit, “Walk On The Wild Side," and an even bigger one for Louis Armstrong, “What A Wonderful World." He also arranged some enduring film scores, notably Sonny Rollins' music for Alfie, Gato Barbieri's music for Last Tango In Paris, and Diana Ross' Billie ...

Oliver Nelson: Screamin' The Blues

by Ronald S. Russ
August 10, 2006

There were many saxophonists on the scene in 1960 who would influence jazz for the next forty years. While saxophonist/composer/arranger Oliver Nelson might not be the best known of the musicians of that era, he blew alongside some of the greats. He is probably best known for his compositions and arrangements ("Stolen Moments," “Miss Fine" and “Hobo Flats" come to mind). Nelson was born in St. Louis, Missouri and played with big bands like the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra in the late ...

Oliver Nelson: Straight Ahead

by Keiran Smalley
January 21, 2003

Contrast is everything. Think of food for example: A big salty hunk of mature cheese is nicely offset by a couple of sweet grapes. Gastronomes would never dream of eating a rich foie-gras without the accompaniment of the honeyed sweetness of a glass of Sauternes.

The same is true with music; a whole album of fast-paced music quickly becomes draining. Likewise, an hour of chilled-out dub can send you to sleep. The saxophonist and composer Oliver Nelson ...