Straight Ahead Oliver Nelson

Straight Ahead Oliver Nelson Picture

Straight Ahead Oliver Nelson Photo

Straight Ahead Oliver Nelson Image

Straight Ahead Oliver Nelson Picture

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16 of 17 persons found the following review helpful.
When Dolphy’s On Board, It’s Never “Straight Ahead”
By Michael B. Richman
“Straight Ahead” is the third and final collaboration amidst tenor saxophonist and cited arranger Oliver Nelson, and iconoclastic reedman Eric Dolphy. The introductory was Nelson’s “Screamin’ The Blues” also on the Prestige label, and the second was the famous “Blues and the Abstract Truth,” recorded for Impulse a week earlier than “Straight Ahead.” On March 1, 1961 Nelson and Dolphy went into the studio for the third time, along with Richard Wyands on piano, George Duvivier on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. Five of the album’s six tunes are Nelson originals (“Ralph’s New Blues is a Milt Jackson composition), with “Images” and the title-track the standouts. The results were magical on this session, but not rather as impressive as the Impulse date. All the same, fans of Nelson and Dolphy will receive pleasure from plotting this course “Straight Ahead.”

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
A tragically underrated player, a justly heralded composer
By Isaac Laughlin
Oliver Nelson has always gotten what little respect seems to be available for jazz composers. However, his playing is ofttimes not noted and this is unfortunate. Listening to Mr. Nelson’s solos is to get a glimpse into the procedure of composition. In Mr. Nelson’s solos there is a level of logic and compositional thought occurring that is rare in jazz. Thinking of other players in whom this trait is evident, Sonny Rollins comes to mind. Oliver Nelson lacks the technical wizardry of Mr. Rollins, but in a lot of ways that makes it even having little impact to listen his thought processes.

That being said, Mr. Nelson in all likelihood wouldn’t make for a very interesting album on his own, but he more than makes up for it by playing alongside Eric Dolphy. The contrast in this case is delightful. Where Nelson restrains himself, Dolphy let’s fly with his trademark flurries of notes and very vocal style.

The rest of the band is strong too, providing a very solid base for the soloists, and navigating their way through the superb compositions with aplomb. Roy Haynes’ drum work is specially remarkable here. It’s sad that this album is not better known, because it has all the constituents of a classic, great composition, a strong appreciation for the blues and a diverse collection of brilliant soloists backed by an outstanding band.

1 of 1 humans found the following review helpful.
not “Screamin’ the Blues” or “Abstract Truth” but GREAT!
By Tony NYC
Most of the other reviewers here said it right. I’m a huge Oliver Nelson and Eric Dolphy fan and this is a outstanding album. It’s not as outstanding as “Screamin’ the Blues” or “Blues and the Abstract Truth” which I feel are flawless, but this is a ought to have CD for galore reasons. If you love either Nelson or Dolphy, that’s reason enough. Great performances throughout, and for you audiophiles out there, the recording quality is very good.

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