Nelson Rangell has primarily played pop-jazz throughout his career, although he did a credible job playing some soulful alto with the straight-ahead GRP All-Star Big Band. The records he cut for GRP in the early '90s made him into a popular contemporary jazz attraction in the David Sanborn tradition.
A native of Denver, CO, Rangell learned how to play flute at the age of 15, and within six months, he was studying music at the Interlochen Arts Academy. Shortly afterward, he learned the saxophone, and in 1979 he won Down Beat's Best High School Jazz Soloist competition. Follow...