Oliver Nelson: Sound Pieces

[Late]

There's a thread here dedicated to Nelson's work on Prestige, but I couldn't find one that discussed this album.

I've had this on compact disc since it was first reissued in the early 90's. I always go hot and cold on it, but yesterday it really clicked for me. Nelson plays soprano throughout, and his intonation is near-perfect, which in a way isn't surprising given Nelson's meticulousness. His solo on "The Shadow of Your Smile" is really something else. Longer than most Nelson solos, and not openly reliant on his "patterns for jazz" as much as other solos of his from the period. It's really inventive. And his sound is so flute-like in the upper register—I wonder what Steve Lacy or Coltrane thought. (Is Nelson playing an Otto Link? I think so.)

What do you think of this record? Both the orchestra side and the quartet side. Does the rhythm section (Steve Kuhn, Ron Carter, Grady Tate) gel? 

[clifford_thornton]

I have never heard this record, though I've seen it around. Might give it a try one day.

[jlhoots]

Haven't listened in a good while. Mixed feelings when I did listen to it.

[JSngry]

I like it a very lot, especially the quartet side. Top-shelf imo.

That mouthpiece? Maybe a metal Selmer?

[colinmce]

Haven't heard it in just about a couple decades, I would gladly grab a copy next time I see it around. But I too remember having mixed feelings.

[JSngry]

Mixed feelings about the orchestra side, I get that.

But that quartet side is something else again!

[Late]

Even if you (one) doesn't care for the orchestra side—though how could you not like "Flute Salad"??—there's no disputing that the charts are played flawlessly. Especially that opening bass clarinet line. You never hear a breath or a split note. I only wish Nelson had stepped a little closer to the mike.

The quartet sides are badass, especially with the addition of "Straight No Chaser" and "Example 78" as bonus tracks. Ron Carter sounds great on "Elegy for A Duck." That's one hip bass vamp. And notice how the tune is a clever nod to "Take Five."

I wonder what made Nelson decide to pick up the soprano for this album. He plays it so well...it's not simply a "double" for him.

 

 

[JSngry]

 

 

[Late]

Hmmm. Maybe I should qualify "inventive" within Nelson's own parameters. Nelson's stretching past what he usually does (in his "Shadow" solo), and stretches even further during his "Elegy For A Duck" solo. Parts of his soprano playing remind me of what Wayne Shorter would sound like about two years later. I wonder if Shorter was aware of Nelson's playing, particularly on soprano. 

[JSngry]

If one just follows the notes, one will always hear some surprise notes that seem to go out of their way not to sound like surprises. Same thing with most of his writing. On an otherwise dispiriting record, this happens:

Oliver Nelson was a very stealth guy