Oliver Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer and bandleader. From 1960 to 1961, he played with legendary artists such as Count Basie and Duke Ellington before joining the Quincy Jones big band. Nelson has worked as an arranger, writer and instrumentalist on large ensemble albums for artists such as Thelonious Monk, Leon Thomas, Burning Spear and Louis Armstrong. He died in 1975 at the age of 43. Here comes a classic recording by Oliver Nelson, entitled 'Skull Session' recorded in 1975 for the Flying Dutchman label. On this album, Nelson plays with an all-star line-up consisting of Jerome Richardson (Miles Davis, Alice Coltrane), Bud Shank (Ravi Shankar, Astrud Gilberto), Bill Perkins (Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker), Chuck Domanico (Prince, Mary J. Blige), Maurice Spears (Herbie Hancock, Betty Davis), Buddy Collette (Charles Mingus, Chet Baker), Shelly Manne (Ornette Coleman), Bobby Bryant (Lalo Schifrin, Dennis Coffey), Oscar Brashear (Count Basie, Marvin Gaye), David Duke (Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Richie), Vincent DeRosa (Jim Sullivan, Pharoah Sanders) and on keyboard Lonnie Liston Smith!