Oliver Nelson
Encyclopedia
Oliver Edward Nelson was an American
jazz
saxophonist
, clarinet
ist, arranger
and composer
.
in the 1940s, and his sister sang and played piano
. Nelson began learning to play the piano when he was six, and started on the saxophone at eleven. From 1947 he played in "territory" bands around Saint Louis, before joining the Louis Jordan
big band from 1950 to 1951, playing alto saxophone
and arranging
.
After military service in the Marines, Nelson returned to Missouri to study music composition and theory at Washington
and Lincoln
Universities, graduating in 1958. While back in his hometown of St. Louis, he met and married Eileen Mitchell; the couple had a son, Oliver Nelson Jr., but soon divorced. After graduation, Nelson married Audrey McEwen, a union which lasted until his death; they had a son, Nyles. Audrey was a native of St. Louis, Missouri.
Nelson moved to New York
, playing with Erskine Hawkins
and Wild Bill Davis
, and working as the house arranger for the Apollo Theater
in Harlem
. He also played on the West Coast briefly with the Louie Bellson
big band in 1959, and in the same year began recording as leader with small groups. From 1960 to 1961 he played tenor saxophone
with Quincy Jones
, both in the U.S. and on tour in Europe
.
s as leader between 1959 and 1961 for the Prestige
label (with such musicians as Kenny Dorham
, Johnny Hammond Smith, Eric Dolphy
, Roy Haynes
, King Curtis
and Jimmy Forrest
), Nelson's big breakthrough came with The Blues and the Abstract Truth
, on Impulse!
, featuring the tune "Stolen Moments
," now considered a standard. This made his name as a composer and arranger, and he went on to record a number of big-band albums, as well as working as an arranger for Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins
, Eddie Davis
, Johnny Hodges
, Wes Montgomery
, Buddy Rich
, Jimmy Smith
, Billy Taylor
, Stanley Turrentine
, Irene Reid
, Gene Ammons
and many others. He also led all-star big bands in various live performances between 1966 and 1975. Nelson continued to perform as a soloist during this period, though increasingly on soprano saxophone.
In 1967, Nelson moved to Los Angeles
. Apart from his big-band appearances (in Berlin
, Montreux
, New York, and Los Angeles), he toured West Africa
with a small group. He also spent a great deal of time composing music for television
(Ironside
, Night Gallery
, Columbo, The Six Million Dollar Man
and Longstreet
) and film
s (Death of a Gunfighter
and he arranged Gato Barbieri
's music for Last Tango in Paris
). He produced and arranged for pop stars such as Nancy Wilson
, James Brown, the Temptations
, and Diana Ross
. Less well-known is the fact that Nelson composed several symphonic works, and was also deeply involved in jazz education, returning to his alma mater, Washington University, in the summer of 1969 to lead a five-week long clinic that also featured such guest performers as Phil Woods
, Mel Lewis
, Thad Jones
, Sir Roland Hanna, and Ron Carter
. Nelson died of a heart attack on 28 October 1975, aged 43.
Impulse! Records
Flying Dutchman Records
Other labels
With Mel Brown
With Carmen McRae
With Shirley Scott
With Jimmy Smith
With Wes Montgomery
With Count Basie
With Manny Albam
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
ist, arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Early life and career
Oliver Nelson's family was musical: his brother was also a saxophonist who played with Cootie WilliamsCootie Williams
Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Biography:...
in the 1940s, and his sister sang and played piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. Nelson began learning to play the piano when he was six, and started on the saxophone at eleven. From 1947 he played in "territory" bands around Saint Louis, before joining the Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
big band from 1950 to 1951, playing alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
and arranging
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
.
After military service in the Marines, Nelson returned to Missouri to study music composition and theory at Washington
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
and Lincoln
Lincoln University (Missouri)
Lincoln University, a historically black college, is located in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 2007, according to U.S. News and World Report, Lincoln University was ranked #3 for economic diversity, #5 for campus ethnic diversity, and #9 for most international students among master's level...
Universities, graduating in 1958. While back in his hometown of St. Louis, he met and married Eileen Mitchell; the couple had a son, Oliver Nelson Jr., but soon divorced. After graduation, Nelson married Audrey McEwen, a union which lasted until his death; they had a son, Nyles. Audrey was a native of St. Louis, Missouri.
Nelson moved to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, playing with Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpet player and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson...
and Wild Bill Davis
Wild Bill Davis
Wild Bill Davis was the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William Strethen Davis.Davis was born in Glasgow, Missouri...
, and working as the house arranger for the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. He also played on the West Coast briefly with the Louie Bellson
Louie Bellson
Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni , better known by the stage name Louie Bellson , was an Italian-American jazz drummer...
big band in 1959, and in the same year began recording as leader with small groups. From 1960 to 1961 he played tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
with Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, both in the U.S. and on tour in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Breakthrough and afterwards
After six albumAlbum
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s as leader between 1959 and 1961 for the Prestige
Prestige Records
Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
label (with such musicians as Kenny Dorham
Kenny Dorham
McKinley Howard Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did...
, Johnny Hammond Smith, Eric Dolphy
Eric Dolphy
Eric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
, Roy Haynes
Roy Haynes
Roy Owen Haynes is an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Haynes is among the most recorded drummers in jazz, and in a career lasting more than 60 years has played in a wide range of styles ranging from swing and bebop to jazz fusion and avant-garde jazz...
, King Curtis
King Curtis
Curtis Ousley , who performed under the stage name King Curtis, was an American saxophone virtuoso known for rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, funk and soul jazz. Variously a bandleader, band member, and session musician, he was also a musical director and record producer...
and Jimmy Forrest
Jimmy Forrest
Jimmy Forrest was an African American jazz musician, who played tenor saxophone throughout his career....
), Nelson's big breakthrough came with The Blues and the Abstract Truth
The Blues and the Abstract Truth
The Blues and the Abstract Truth is a jazz album by Oliver Nelson recorded in February 1961. It remains Nelson's most acclaimed album. It features a lineup of notable musicians: Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy , Bill Evans , Paul Chambers and Roy Haynes...
, on Impulse!
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
, featuring the tune "Stolen Moments
Stolen Moments (song)
"Stolen Moments" is a jazz standard composed by Oliver Nelson. It is a sixteen-bar piece , though the solos are on a conventional minor key 12 bar blues structure....
," now considered a standard. This made his name as a composer and arranger, and he went on to record a number of big-band albums, as well as working as an arranger for Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
, Eddie Davis
Eddie Davis (saxophonist)
Edward Davis , who performed and recorded as Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:...
, Johnny Hodges
Johnny Hodges
John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges was an American alto saxophonist, best known for his solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years, except the period between 1932–1946 when Otto Hardwick generally played first chair...
, Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
, Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
, Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
, Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
, Stanley Turrentine
Stanley Turrentine
Stanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
, Irene Reid
Irene Reid
Irene Reid was an American jazz singer.Reid was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia. She sang in church and in high school in Georgia, and moved to New York City in 1947 after her mother died. Toward the end of 1947, she tied out for an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and won the...
, Gene Ammons
Gene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.-Biography:...
and many others. He also led all-star big bands in various live performances between 1966 and 1975. Nelson continued to perform as a soloist during this period, though increasingly on soprano saxophone.
In 1967, Nelson moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Apart from his big-band appearances (in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Montreux
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...
, New York, and Los Angeles), he toured West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
with a small group. He also spent a great deal of time composing music for television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
(Ironside
Ironside (TV series)
Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...
, Night Gallery
Night Gallery
Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
, Columbo, The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
and Longstreet
Longstreet (TV series)
Longstreet is an American crime drama series that was broadcast on the ABC in the 1971-1972 season . A 90-minute pilot movie of the same name aired prior to the debut of the series as an ABC Movie of the Week.-Synopsis:...
) and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s (Death of a Gunfighter
Death of a Gunfighter
Death of a Gunfighter is a 1969 Western film. It is most notable for the first use of the pseudonymous Allen Smithee directorial credit. It stars Richard Widmark and Lena Horne, and features an original score by Oliver Nelson...
and he arranged Gato Barbieri
Gato Barbieri
Leandro Barbieri , better known as Gato Barbieri , is an Argentinean jazz tenor saxophonist and composer who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and from his latin jazz recordings in the 1970s.-Biography:Born to a family of musicians, Barbieri began playing music...
's music for Last Tango in Paris
Last Tango in Paris
Last Tango in Paris is a 1972 Italian romantic drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci which portrays a recent American widower who takes up an anonymous sexual relationship with a young, soon-to-be-married Parisian woman...
). He produced and arranged for pop stars such as Nancy Wilson
Nancy Wilson (singer)
Nancy Wilson is an American singer with more than 70 albums, and three Grammy Awards. She has been labeled a singer of blues, jazz, cabaret and pop; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer." The title she prefers, however, is song stylist...
, James Brown, the Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, and Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
. Less well-known is the fact that Nelson composed several symphonic works, and was also deeply involved in jazz education, returning to his alma mater, Washington University, in the summer of 1969 to lead a five-week long clinic that also featured such guest performers as Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
, Mel Lewis
Mel Lewis
Mel Lewis was an American drummer, jazz musician and band leader. He was born Melvin Sokoloff in Buffalo, New York to Russian immigrant parents....
, Thad Jones
Thad Jones
Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...
, Sir Roland Hanna, and Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
. Nelson died of a heart attack on 28 October 1975, aged 43.
Discography
Prestige RecordsPrestige Records
Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
- 1959: Meet Oliver Nelson
- 1960: Taking Care of Business
- 1960: Images
- 1960: Screamin' the Blues
- 1960: Soul Battle
- 1960: Nocturne
- 1961: Straight AheadStraight Ahead (Oliver Nelson album)Straight Ahead is a jazz studio album by saxophonist Oliver Nelson. It features famous musicians such as Eric Dolphy on sax, clarinet and flute and Roy Haynes on drums. It was recorded in March 1961 at the celebrated Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs...
- 1961: Main Stem
- 1962: Afro/American SketchesAfro/American SketchesAfro/American Sketches is a jazz album by Oliver Nelson recorded between September 29, 1960 – November 10, 1961. It is his first Big Band album as the leader.- Track listing :# "Message" – 5:50# "Jungleaire" – 6:25...
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
- 1961: The Blues and the Abstract TruthThe Blues and the Abstract TruthThe Blues and the Abstract Truth is a jazz album by Oliver Nelson recorded in February 1961. It remains Nelson's most acclaimed album. It features a lineup of notable musicians: Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy , Bill Evans , Paul Chambers and Roy Haynes...
- 1964: More Blues and the Abstract TruthMore Blues and the Abstract TruthMore Blues and the Abstract Truth is an album by American jazz composer, conductor and arranger Oliver Nelson featuring performances recorded in 1964 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
- 1966: Oliver Nelson Plays MichelleOliver Nelson Plays MichelleOliver Nelson Plays Michelle is an album by American jazz composer, arranger and saxophonist Oliver Nelson, featuring solos by Nelson and Phil Woods, recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
- 1966: Sound PiecesSound PiecesSound Pieces is an album by American jazz composer, conductor and arranger Oliver Nelson featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
- 1966: HappeningsHappenings (Hank Jones & Oliver Nelson album)Happenings is an album by American jazz pianist Hank Jones and composer/arranger Oliver Nelson featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
with Hank JonesHank JonesHenry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award... - 1967: The Spirit of '67 with Pee Wee RussellPee Wee RussellCharles Ellsworth Russell, much better known by his nickname Pee Wee Russell, was a jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but eventually focused solely on clarinet....
- 1967: The Kennedy DreamThe Kennedy DreamThe Kennedy Dream is an album by American composer/arranger Oliver Nelson recorded in 1967 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos awarded the album 3½ stars stating "In February of 1967, Oliver Nelson recognized Kennedy's contributions and assembled a big band to...
- 1967: Live from Los AngelesLive from Los AngelesLive from Los Angeles is an album by American jazz composer/arranger Oliver Nelson featuring performances recorded in 1967 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
- 1968: Soulful BrassSoulful BrassSoulful Brass is an album by American jazz composer/arranger Oliver Nelson and pianist/entertainer Steve Allen featuring performances recorded in 1968 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
with Steve AllenSteve AllenSteve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3... - 197_: Three Dimensions (a compilation album)
Flying Dutchman Records
Flying Dutchman Records
Flying Dutchman Records was a jazz record label which was owned by veteran music industry executive, producer and songwriter Bob Thiele. Initially distributed by Atlantic Records, it was later distributed by RCA Records which took over the label in 1976...
- 1968: Soulful Brass #2
- 1969: Black Brown and Beautiful
- 1970: The Mayor and the People
- 1970: Berlin Dialogue for Orchestra
- 1970: Leon ThomasLeon ThomasAmos Leon Thomas Jr was an American avant garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois.Thomas studied music at Tennessee State University. In the 1960s he was a vocalist for Count Basie and others....
In Berlin with Oliver Nelson - 1971: Swiss Suite
- 1974: In London with Oily Rags
- 1975: Skull Session
- 1976: A Dream Deferred
Other labels
- 1962: Full Nelson (Verve)
- 1962: Impressions of Phaedra (United Artists)
- 1964: Fantabulous (Argo)
- 1966: Leonard Feather Presents the Sound of Feeling and the Sound of Oliver Nelson (Verve)
- 1967: Jazzhattan Suite (Verve)
- 1973: Fugue and Bossa
- 1975: Stolen Moments (East Wind RecordsEast Wind RecordsEast Wind was a Japanese jazz record label.Among their most prominent artists were "The Great Jazz Trio", a group that has included Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Hank Jones, Richard Davis, Ron Carter.-Discography:-External links:**...
/Inner City RecordsInner City RecordsInner City Records, an American jazz record label now based in Elmsford, New York, was founded in 1976 by Irv Kratka, owner of Music Minus One, and Eric Kriss, an independent producer. Affiliated labels included Guitar World and Classic Jazz...
)
As arranger
With Air PocketAir Pocket (band)
Air Pocket was a jazz fusion band based around the Fowler brothers.Their debut album was arranged by Oliver Nelson. It was released on LP in 1976 and CD in 2002, both by East Wind.-Discography:*1976: Fly On *1985: Hunter...
- Fly On (1975, East Wind RecordsEast Wind RecordsEast Wind was a Japanese jazz record label.Among their most prominent artists were "The Great Jazz Trio", a group that has included Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Hank Jones, Richard Davis, Ron Carter.-Discography:-External links:**...
)
With Mel Brown
Mel Brown
Mel Brown was an American-born blues guitarist.Brown was nominated for a Juno Award in both 2001 and 2002.Brown, a long-time smoker, died aged 69, on March 20, 2009, in Kitchener, Ontario, of complications from emphysema....
- Chicken FatChicken Fat (album)Chicken Fat is the debut album by American blues guitarist Mel Brown recorded in 1967 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Sean Westergaard awarded the album 4 stars stating "Guitarist Mel Brown is hailed as "An Impulse! Discovery" on Chicken Fat, his debut for the label, and...
(Impulse!, 1967)
With Carmen McRae
Carmen McRae
Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
- Portrait of CarmenPortrait of CarmenPortrait of Carmen is a 1968 studio album by Carmen McRae, with arrangements by Oliver Nelson, Shorty Rogers, Benny Carter and Gene Di Novi...
(Atlantic, 1967)
With Shirley Scott
Shirley Scott
Shirley Scott was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist. She was most known for working with her husband, Stanley Turrentine, and with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis...
- For Members OnlyFor Members OnlyFor Members Only is an album by American jazz organist Shirley Scott recorded in 1963 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 4½ stars.-Track listing:# "Southern Comfort" — 5:40...
(Impulse!, 1963) - Great Scott!!Great Scott!! (album)Great Scott!! is an album by American jazz organist Shirley Scott recorded in 1964 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 4½ stars.-Track listing:All compositions by Shirley Scott except as indicated...
(Impulse!, 1964) - Roll 'Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big BandsRoll 'Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big BandsRoll 'Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big Bands is an album by American jazz organist Shirley Scott recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(Impulse!, 1966)
With Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
- Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy SmithBashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy SmithBashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith' is a 1962 studio album by Jimmy Smith, with Oliver Nelson's big band.- Track listing :# "Walk on the Wild Side" – 5:58# "Ol' Man River" – 3:59...
(Verve, 1962) - Hobo Flats (Verve, 1963)
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (album)Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1964 studio album on the Verve label by organist Jimmy Smith, accompanied by a big band with arrangements by Oliver Nelson and Claus Ogerman.-Track listing:#"Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" – 7:07...
(Verve, 1964) - Monster (Verve, 1965)
- Peter and the Wolf (Verve, 1966)
With Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
- Goin' Out of My HeadGoin' Out of My Head (album)Goin' Out of My Head is an album by American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1965. It reached number 7 on the Billboard R&B chart...
(Verve, 1965)
With Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
- AfriqueAfrique (album)Afrique is a 1971 studio album by Count Basie and his orchestra, with conductor/arranger Oliver Nelson.- Track listing :# "Step Right Up" – 4:15# "Hobo Flats" – 6:13# "Gypsy Queen" – 4:00 # "Love Flower" – 2:53...
(Flying Dutchman, 1970)
As sideman
With Quincy JonesQuincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
- The QuintessenceThe QuintessenceThe Quintessence is an album released by Quincy Jones and his orchestra. It was released in 1961, his only effort for the Impulse! Records label...
(Impulse!, 1961)
With Manny Albam
Manny Albam
Manny Albam was a jazz baritone saxophone player who eventually put the instrument down in favour of a long and respected career as an arranger, writer, and teacher.-Biography:The son of Lithuanian immigrants, who was born in the Dominican Republic when his mother went into labour en route...
- Jazz Goes to the MoviesJazz Goes to the MoviesJazz Goes to the Movies is an album by American jazz arranger and conductor Manny Albam recorded in 1962 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(Impulse!, 1962)
External links
- [ Oliver Nelson] — AllMusic biography by Scott Yanow
- Oliver Nelson — brief introduction from the Jazz Files
- Oliver Nelson — introduction from Impulse! Records
- Oliver Nelson: A Discography — Douglas Payne's site, including discographies of Nelson's work in different genres, reviews, etc.