Jazz: Of saints and sinners

Oliver Nelson Jr. gave a presentation to my jazz appreciation class about his father's work, and it really drove home to me just how difficult it is to achieve immortality. Here's a guy who collaborated with many of music's brightest stars, was widely sought-out to arrange and compose, created songs that many of us would recognize immediately...and now, only thirty-three years after his untimely passing, how many music fans remember him?

(If you really want to see double takes at a party, put some Soul on Top on the stereo. James Brown doing swing? Ambitious, but it works. For some. Maybe.)

I now have a craving to seek out some vinyl. It's been a long time since I've looked at an LP cover, and I'd forgotten just how rich with information and artwork the covers and liner notes could be. Just beautiful.