Oliver Nelson

Oliver Nelson ( born June 4, 1932 in St. Louis, Missouri; † 27 October 1975, in Los Angeles, California ) was an American jazz saxophonist, jazz and film composer, arranger and band leader.

Life and work

Nelson came from a musical family - his brother was also a saxophonist and played with Cootie Williams in the 1940s, his sister played piano and sang. At age six, he learned piano and play with eleven years saxophone. In 1947 he performed in local bands around St. Louis, before moving up to the 1951 Louis Jordan Big Band joined in 1950 to play there 2 Saxophone ( alto saxophone) and arrange. As Jordan was also Nelson life marked by Soul. After military service in the Marines he studied until his graduation in 1958 at Washington University in St. Louis music theory and composition.

In the 1950s, he was in the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra and in 1959 briefly at Louie Bellson, but already brought their own albums as a leader out with musicians such as Kenny Dorham, Johnny Hammond Smith, Eric Dolphy, Roy Haynes, King Curtis and Jimmy Forrest. His breakthrough came with the album The Blues and the Abstract Truth with his standard "Stolen Moments". Contributors to the album were, inter alia, Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard and Bill Evans. From 1967 he lived in Los Angeles where he largely devoted himself to the TV and film music. He joined from 1966 occasionally with its own All Star Big Band, so in 1970 at the jazz festival in Berlin, 1971 in Montreux, 1975 in New York and Los Angeles.

As an arranger, he worked not only for 1960-1961 Quincy Jones ( in whose orchestra he also played ), but also, inter alia, Thelonious Monk, Jimmy Smith ( in his first big band gig ), Wes Montgomery, Gato Barbieri ( Montreux 1971), Count Basie (on Afrique ), Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Johnny Hodges, Buddy Rich, Stanley Turrentine, Billy Taylor. He also arranged for pop and soul stars such as Nancy Wilson, Diana Ross, the Temptations and James Brown.

His television and film compositions include the music for Death of a Gunfighter ( a western starring Richard Widmark ), Ironside, Night Gallery, Columbo, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, and Longstreet.

He died of a heart attack at only 43 years.

Filmography (selection)

Cinema

TV

Recordings (selection)

Jazz Collection

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