Screamin' the Blues
OLIVER NELSON
(Original Jazz Classics)
The third album as a leader by the great, unheralded jazz saxophonist/composer/arranger Oliver Nelson is a more than worthy precursor to his 1961 masterpiece, The Blues and the Abstract Truth. Nelson's sounded tended toward brawn, but he could imbue his horn with just enough of a quiver to add an element of vulnerability. His horn-playing sidekick on this set is Eric Dolphy, who's darting, angular sound presents a whole other sort of screamin'. The six tracks, built variously around simple blues riffs and some more uptown melodies, swing with a relaxed confidence, thanks in large part to drummer Roy Haynes.
This article appears in Jun 4-10, 2008.