Oliver Nelson was an American composer, arranger, and saxophonist born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1932. Though accomplished as a performer, his most lasting contributions came through his writing. Nelson's masterwork is the 1961 Impulse! album The Blues and the Abstract Truth, which features an ensemble including Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Freddie Hubbard, and Roy Haynes. From that session came "Stolen Moments," a minor blues that became one of the most recognized jazz compositions of the twentieth century and is featured on AllSolos alongside five other Nelson originals: "Hoe Down," "Cascades," "Yearnin'," "Butch and Butch," and "Teenie's Blues." Nelson's orchestral ambitions extended well beyond small-group jazz. His big band albums, including Afro-American Sketches and Full Nelson, demonstrated a command of extended form and rich harmonic color. He studied composition formally at Washington University and Lincoln University, and his writing drew from both classical and blues traditions. After relocating to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, Nelson became one of the busiest arrangers in television and film, scoring over fifty productions. He also arranged for artists ranging from Nancy Wilson and James Brown to the Temptations and Diana Ross. Nelson died of a heart attack in 1975 at the age of forty-three, his output remarkably prolific for so short a life.
