Jazz Unlimited for March 3, 2019, will be “The Compositions and Arrangements of Oliver Nelson.” Born in St. Louis in 1932, Oliver Nelson began music lessons at five on piano and began playing saxophone at ten. He played with the Eddie Randle band and then arranged for Louis Jordan, After military service, Nelson went to Washington University and Lincoln Universities and studied with modern classical composers. He moved to New York in 1958 and began his recording career in 1959. Nelson gained a reputation as an arranger, composer saxophonist and teacher. This took him to Hollywood for film and TV work. He died early of a heart attack in 1975. We will hear his arrangements and compositions played by his own big bands and small groups, , Pee Wee Russell, Clark Terry & Bob Brookmeyer, Buddy Rich, Keith Jarrett, Quincy Jones, Judy Niemack, Phil Woods, Jimmy Smith, Count Basie, Bill Cunliff, Eric Dolphy, Oscar Peterson and Wes Montgomery.
The Slide Show has my photogaphs of some of the musicians heard on this show.
Due to copyright restrictions, the audio from this show is no longer available. Audio links are available for one week after a show airs, starting on the Monday after the show.
This is a video of Oliver Nelson leading the Berlin Dream Band in Berlin playing "Down By the Riverside" in 1970.
