St Louis-born alto, tenor and soprano saxophonist Oliver Nelson (1932) moved to
New York in 1958. He became famous mainly as an arranger, but was also a
consistent hard-bop player:
Takin' Care of Business (march 1960), for a quintet with vibraphone, organ, bass, drums, containing Trane Whistle;
Afro-American Sketches (november 1961), a concept album for big band, dedicated to the history of black people in the USA (Emancipation Blues, Freedom Dance);
and especially Blues and the Abstract Truth (february 1961), with his most famous songs (Stolen Moments, Teenie's Blues) and a stellar cast (Nelson on tenor and alto, Eric Dolphy doubling on alto and flute, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, Roy Haynes on drums).
Nelson (on tenor and alto) paired with Eric Dolphy (on alto and bass clarinet and on flute) for Screamin' the Blues (may 1960) and
Straight Ahead (march 1961), respectively a sextet and a quintet session,
performing mostly Nelson material (the former has Screamin' the Blues).
Later Nelson preferred to compose for large ensemble:
Sound Piece for Jazz Orchestra, off Sound Pieces (september 1966),
Black Brown And Beautiful (october 1969),
Berlin Dialogue For Orchestra (november 1970), containing two suites, Berlin Dialogue for Orchestra and Impressions of Berlin,
and the 27-minute Swiss Suite, first recorded on Swiss Suite (june 1971).
He moved to Los Angeles in 1967, but died in 1975 at 43 of a heart attack.
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