Oliver Nelson needs to be reconsidered by music listeners for what he was - one of the most significant jazz voices of his generation, and an important big band composer and arranger of the 1960s.

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 ...

Paul Desmond: Samba with Some Barbecue Originally titled “Struttin' with Some Barbecue" in 1941, this Satchmo tune lost its Dixie beat and got a bossa groove in the hands of the infallible Don Sebesky ...

After-hours jazz clubs had a certain magic and nocturnal charm in the 1950s and '60s. They existed because in many cities, mainstream jazz clubs were regulated and had to issue a last call around ...

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 ...

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 ...

Let's downshift slightly today during this week of little-known jazz albums with big-name arrangers conducting supersized orchestras. On Monday, I told you about Jimmy Smith's Portuguese Eyes (with ...

Herbie Mann was a fascinating jazz figure. The flutist and saxophonist was a dominant player in the 1950s, recording prolifically as a leader and sideman, and always bringing tremendous swing and ...

Oliver Nelson occupies an interesting space among jazz composers and arrangers in the 1960s. While not as well known as Quincy Jones, Lalo Schifrin or Claus Ogerman, Nelson is a favorite among those ...

In his few years, Oliver Nelson achieved major success as a composer and arranger in jazz and in the Hollywood studios. His first big band collection, Afro-American Sketches (1961), made it clear that ...