jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
pianist and composer.
Nelson produced his independent debut album '' First Stories'' at age 19. His second album, ''
Anticipation
Anticipation is an emotion involving pleasure or anxiety in considering or awaiting an expected event. Anticipatory emotions include fear, anxiety, hope and trust. When the anticipated event fails to occur, it results in disappointment (if posi ...
'', was released in 2004 with all his compositions. In 2007, Nelson signed with the jazz label
Native Language Music
Native Language Music is a jazz record label founded in 1996 by Theo Bishop and Joe Sherbanee in southern California.
Roster
* Theo Bishop
* Erin Bode
* East West Quintet
* Four80East
* Sara Gazarek
* Tony Guerrero
* Warren Hill
* Jeff Kas ...
and released his third album, ''
Let It Go
"Let It Go" is a song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film ''Frozen (2013 film), Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert L ...
'', with guests
Seamus Blake
Seamus Blake (born December 8, 1970) is a British-born Canadian tenor saxophonist.
Early life and education
Blake was born in London, England and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His mother introduced him to jazz when he was a c ...
,
Sara Gazarek
Sara Gazarek is an American jazz singer from Seattle.
Life and career
Gazarek was born in Seattle, Washington and moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to attend the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. In college her teache ...
I Hear a Rhapsody
"I Hear a Rhapsody" is a 1941 pop song that became a jazz standard, composed by George Fragos, Jack Baker, and Dick Gasparre. Written in 1940, in 1941 it was a top 10 hit for three separate artists, Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Dorsey and Dinah Shore.
â ...
'', was released in 2009 with Nelson's compositions, interpretations of standards, and reinventions of rock songs. In 2011, he released his fifth album, '' Discoveries'', which was influenced by the writings of
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead.
Early life and education
Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the drum ...
, and Sara Gazarek, for whom he was written songs and serves as musical director He toured worldwide with vocalist
Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...
. One of Gazarek's albums, for which Nelson composed various pieces, and which featured a band led by Nelson, reached number ten on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart.
Nelson has been described by jazz critic Chuck Berg as a "brilliant young player whose virtuosity suggest the urbane yet bluesy tradition of
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...
and
Gene Harris
Gene Harris (born Eugene Haire, September 1, 1933 – January 16, 2000) was an American jazz pianist known for his warm sound and blues and gospel infused style that is known as soul jazz.
From 1956 to 1970, he played in The Three Sounds trio ...
", and by journalist and critic Josef Woodard as possessing "his own clean-burning modern mode of jazz".
Discography
As leader
* ''First Stories'' (Steel Bird Music, 1998)
* ''
Let It Go
"Let It Go" is a song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film ''Frozen (2013 film), Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert L ...
'' (Omagatoki, 2007)
* ''
I Hear a Rhapsody
"I Hear a Rhapsody" is a 1941 pop song that became a jazz standard, composed by George Fragos, Jack Baker, and Dick Gasparre. Written in 1940, in 1941 it was a top 10 hit for three separate artists, Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Dorsey and Dinah Shore.
â ...