Riffs: Donald Fagen on Oliver Nelson's 'Blues and the Abstract Truth'

I FIRST heard this on the radio, around 1961-62, when I would pick up the signal from Manhattan. It's basically a minor blues, arranged in a Nelson style - a lot of dissonant harmony, but over a mainstream set of changes. The trick is in the mood that's set by the rhythm section and also in the dynamics of the horn parts. After the head, there's a piano solo by Bill Evans, one of the most beautiful solos he ever recorded; and he's playing on a blues, which you don't often hear. The next solo is by the then very young Freddie Hubbard, who makes use of a lot of colouristic effects, playing in almost a Coltrane-ish 'sheets of sound' style, which adds to the sinister atmosphere. Then there's a solo by Eric Dolphy, on flute, probably one of the greatest avant-garde players of the time, so it's interesting to hear him playing something straight ahead. Then comes a tenor solo by Oliver Nelson, which manages to be at the same time downhome and greasy, and almost a technical exercise. He had a funky tone, but he was a very formally-minded player. He wouldn't be able to get away with the classicism of his solos if it wasn't for the funkiness of his tone. The band goes back into the head and they vamp for a while, and it comes to a close. The whole thing just has a dramatic curve to it. Fun to listen to.

Oliver Nelson, 'Blues and the Abstract Truth', Impulse (deleted)

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