Some of us have been stuck on that trip for a while now. No harm in it. No harm at all. The harm is elsewhere. Not that I’m going to jump up on my chair and call certain so called leaders worthless sacks of shit with very violent and delusional maniacs in their employ, because that just wouldn’t be polite. If my mom taught me anything, it was that everybody and everything is twisted to such a horrible degree that to care is to die inside. I learned my manners elsewhere, but I do try to be polite. I won’t be calling anybody anything other than wonderful tonight. I digress.
Arthur Gilroy mentioned in a comment earlier this evening that he will be playing some Oliver Nelson tunes at the Ravinia Jazz Festival in Highland Park, Illinois on Sunday. I asked him what tunes he’d be playing and he produced quite a list, but also mentioned three that just floor him every time he hears or plays them; Stolen Moments, Down By the Riverside and Hoe Down. If the tunes that floor a guy are the measure of a man, I’d say Gilroy is standing fairly tall.
I was going to post all three, but I promised my wife that my blogging wouldn’t lead to any cease and desist orders, so I’ll go with just one for tonight. It’s a tough choice, but I’ll stick with the fairly popular one; Stolen Moments. I’m really partial to Nelson’s solo on Hoe Down, so I’ll try to get back to that at some point.
Stolen Moments is the first track on Oliver Nelson’s record The Blues and the Abstract Truth and features Nelson on Saxophone, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Eric Dolphy on flute, Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. No video, sorry. Record companies don’t tend to mind if blogs post one tune from a record so long as the poster urges you to go out and buy the album. Consider yourself urged.
P.S. That stuff about my mom isn’t true. You can bet on it if you like. I’ve never been much for gambling myself, but to each his own.
