Oliver Nelson
One way to judge the impact of the career of Oliver Nelson, who was born in St. Louis on June 4, 1932, is to look at how much of his music is still with us almost 30 years after his death.
Nelson accomplished a lot in just short of 43 years on this planet. His discography as an alto saxophonist and bandleader includes at least one album generally recognized as a bona fide jazz classic, the superb Blues and the Abstract Truth, and his tune "Stolen Moments" has become part of the standard repertory of working jazz musicians and students alike. Nelson has also provided challenging practice material for several generations of professional and aspiring players with his book Patterns for Improvisation, which is used by teachers, students and woodshedders everywhere.
However, Nelson was best known as an arranger and composer. Many of his big band arrangements are still in print and being used by professional and student bands all over the world. And, along with Quincy Jones, he was one of the first African-American composers to get significant amounts of lucrative work scoring movies and television programs, writing music for network TV series like Ironside, Night Gallery and The Six Million Dollar Man. As a result, his music is still being heard today as those shows are replayed on cable and purchased on DVD.
Doug Payne has done Oliver Nelson fans and jazz scholars a fine service with his site, which includes a discography and bibliography of Nelson references in print. You may also enjoy reading this brief biography, and this account of a 1971 rehearsal of a European big band under Nelson's direction, written by Ron Simmonds, a trumpet player who was part of the group.
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