The Blues and the Abstract Truth

Artist: Oliver Nelson
Label: Grp Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 011105015424
EAN: 0011105015424
ASIN: B000003N7E

Release Date: 1995-08-15

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Tracks:

Stolen Moments
Hoe-Down
Cascades
Yearnin'
Butch And Butch
Teenie's Blues

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Customer Reviews:

Stolen Moments is the classic.......2007-02-27

Oliver Nelson was a great jazzman who really never got his complete due. He was a reasonably original tenor sax man, but his real talent was composing and arranging. This is an exceptional album, both because of the high quality of arrangements and because of the creativity of the musicians Nelson surrounded himself with in this album. Eric Dolphy was in the mold of Coltrane, and definitely a free spirit, but he was also thoroughly grounded like Trane was. Bill Evans, well, what more need be said. He was the pianist for Miles on "Kinda Blue", he established himself as a major piano figure and he was a master accompanist. Freddie Hubbard was a master jazz trumpet player. The rhythm section is tight and more than just competent. All in all, this is a wonderful CD, and the highest of the high has to be Stolen Moments. Not only the arrangement, but also the way each soloist listens to the soloist just before him and continues the same "story". This is jazz, both written and improvised, at its best and this album ranks nearly as high as "Kinda Blue".

patrician cheesiness.......2007-01-05

I have seen the tbin-tie wearing white boys gasp in horror at their realization this music could not get them laid in the Summmer of Love.
For many sad jazz dee-jays Oliver Nelson celebrates the acme of post-bop bachelor pad cheese. This is by no means a terrible record; "Stolen Moments" is a deserved classic, tho long relegated to elevators, dentists' office foyers, and high school pep bands. Don't rush out and get this record... yet. Try Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" and Grant Green's "Idle Moments" - make-out sides for the man of distiction i.e. in his 60's. Oliver Nelswon leads to Creed Taylor leads to fusion.

Truth is a beautiful thing.......2006-11-06

I heard a few sections of this disc on my local jazz station and had to buy it. A great purchase

Full Nelson.......2006-10-29

Even the most vociferous opera-hater can name one or two; those who recoil in horror at the thought of country music know who Willie Nelson is. But if you're not a lover of the American classical music called jazz, it's unlikely you can rattle off too many names. Many would come up with the Miles Davis, John Coltrane landmark, Kind Of Blue. Some would refer to the Getz/Gilberto collaborations. Happily, Blues And The Abstract Truth would also be mentioned. The main reason this wonderful recording became a classic is that it is accessible, and the credit for that belongs entirely to Oliver Nelson.

A quick scan of the line-up is jaw-dropping; it's a veritable Who's Who of the day. But this is often where the mischief begins. "Super-groups" fail more often than they succeed, frequently their performances turn into ego battles resembling bar fights. Freddie Hubbard is the most egregious example, a monumental egotist and showboat who seemed to believe that more notes faster equaled better music. Dolphy's motives were pure, but he was at times so consumed by his personal, highly idiosyncratic quest that "playing well with others" was not a strong suit. Fortunately Evans, Haynes, and the rhythm section were less mercurial.

The dirty little secret of BATAT is that, creativity and improvisation flourish in an atmosphere of structure and discipline. As composer and arranger, Nelson brought a very well designed, personal vision to the proceedings, and all the players, (even Hubbard), managed to subsume their egos long enough to record the session. The irony with Nelson is that his genius as a composer and arranger overshadows his powerful horn playing; he is not as flashy as Dolphy, (who could be?), but his tone is absolutely plush and soulfully, almost painfully, expressive.

This is one of those rare, (hen's teeth rare), CDs where everything comes together. The recording quality is breathtaking, were this CD to be any smoother it wouldn't be possible to pick it up. Nelson himself is a fascinating jazz figure, following him can lead you down lots of fun rabbit holes. In his 43 short years, he went from playing with Louis Jordan, to being house arranger at the Apollo, to playing "pure jazz" like BATAT, to scoring The Bionic Woman and other hit TV shows. An amazing man. Over the course of one recording session in 1961, he brought together some of the best talent of the day and aligned them ideally to create one of the smoothest, most satisfying jazz CDs ever recorded.

Diamonds on velvet.......2005-12-26

All the previous reviewers have just said it all about this album, but nevertheless I want to pay my tribute to one of the greatest album in Jazz too. Firstly I want to say that this is truly essential if you are steppin' into Jazz (if you are a Jazz fan you surely know this gem). Probably it is the first album I would suggest to a novice after Kind of blue. The first tune alone, the majestic minor blues Stolen Moments is worth the ticket. Simply buy this disc, there's nothing more to say. It's a work of art that can appeal to everyone who has a music sensibility, no matter the age, the sex, the race. Buy it. But after that what can I say more that some guys haven't said before? This album is in the category of albums that match compositions and improvisations in the best way. It is very balanced, incredibly well written and played hard bop strongly rooted in the blues. It's pure magic. But let's talk about the musicians and their contributions here. Personally I find absolutly sublime the music played by Hubbard. His trumpet solos here are something that have the right to enter the Alltime Jazz Hall of Fame. And obviously I can't not to mention Bill Evans. And I want to pay a special mention to Roy haynes. His job here is a master in jazz drumming. He played light, percussive, present but discrete, propulsive, dynamic, creative, vulcanic but unobtrusive. Simply perfect. If the other guys played some of their best stuff it is surely because they had an unbelievable drummer pushing, substaining, stimulating them at every second. Roy's drumming is like a velvet, scintillating background on which the guys put their solos on like diamonds. Roy's drumming help the diamonds shine how they possibly could. There are no words to describe Roy's playing here (as everywhere). He is JAZZ DRUMMING, simply perfection. If you don't buy this album, simply you're not into Jazz but neither into music in general.

Music CD:

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