The Blues and the Abstract Truth

The Blues and the Abstract Truth is an album by American composer and jazz saxophonist Oliver Nelson recorded in February 1961 for the Impulse! label. It remains Nelson's most acclaimed album and features a lineup of notable musicians: Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy (his second-to-last appearance on a Nelson album following a series of collaborations recorded for Prestige), Bill Evans (his only appearance with Nelson), Paul Chambers and Roy Haynes. Baritone saxophonist George Barrow does not take solos but remains a key feature in the subtle voicings of Nelson's arrangements. The album is often noted for its unique ensemble arrangements and is frequently identified as a progenitor of Nelson's move towards arranging later in his career.

Music
Among the pieces on the album, "Stolen Moments" is the best known and has become a jazz standard: a 16-bar piece with solos in a conventional 12-bar minor blues structure in C minor. "Hoe-Down", inspired by the fourth section of Aaron Copland's Rodeo, is built on a 44-bar structure (with 32-bar solos based on rhythm changes). "Cascades" modifies the traditional 32-bar AABA form by using a 16-bar minor blues for the A section, stretching the form to a total of 56 bars. The B-side of the album contains three tracks that hew closer to the 12-bar form: "Yearnin'", "Butch and Butch" and "Teenie's Blues" (which opens with two 12-bar choruses of bass solo by Chambers).

Nelson's later album, More Blues and the Abstract Truth (1964), features an entirely different (and larger) group of musicians and bears little resemblance to this record.

Reception
Writing in the December 21, 1961, issue of DownBeat magazine jazz critic Don DeMicheal commented:"Nelson's playing is like his writing: thoughtful, unhackneyed, and well constructed. Hubbard steals the solo honors with some of his best playing on record. Dolphy gets off some good solos too, his most interesting one on 'Yearnin."

The Jazz Journal International cited the album as "one of the essential post-bop recordings."

It was voted number 333 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).

Other versions/influences
The composition "Stolen Moments" has been recorded and performed by numerous musicians including Phil Woods, J. J. Johnson, Frank Zappa, Ahmad Jamal, Booker Ervin, the United Future Organization and the Turtle Island Quartet. The first eight bars of Nelson's solo on the bridge of "Hoe-Down" were quoted by Ernie Watts and Lee Ritenour in the song "Bullet Train" from their 1979 album Friendship. "Teenie's Blues" was used as a 2009 show-opener by Steely Dan.

In 2008 pianist Bill Cunliffe released the tribute album The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Take 2, featuring new arrangements of the original pieces.

Jews and the Abstract Truth was the debut album by experimental klezmer band Hasidic New Wave (whose members included improvisers trumpeter Frank London and saxophonist Greg Wall), released on Knitting Factory in 1996.

Track listing
All tracks composed by Oliver Nelson.

Personnel

 * Freddie Hubbard – trumpet
 * Eric Dolphy – alto saxophone; flute
 * Oliver Nelson – tenor saxophone; alto saxophone on "Teenie's Blues"
 * George Barrow – baritone saxophone
 * Bill Evans – piano
 * Paul Chambers – bass
 * Roy Haynes – drums

Production

 * Rudy Van Gelder – recording engineer
 * Chuck Stewart – photography
 * Pete Turner – cover design