Afro/American Sketches

{{Infobox album

| name = Afro/American Sketches

| type = studio

| artist = Oliver Nelson Orchestra

| cover = Afro_American Sketches.jpg

| alt =

| released = February 1962[https://books.google.com/books?id=UBYEAAAAMBAJ&q=oliver+nelson+sketches+7225&pg=PA34 Billboard Feb 24, 1962]

| recorded = September 29 & November 10, 1961

| venue =

| studio = Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs

| genre = Jazz

| length = 41:30

| label = Prestige
PRLP 7225

| producer =

| prev_title = Main Stem

| prev_year = 1961

| next_title = Impressions of Phaedra

| next_year = 1962

}}

{{Album ratings

| rev2 = Down Beat

| rev2Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}Down Beat: June 7, 1962, vol. 29, no. 12

|rev1 = Allmusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r144580|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]

| rev3 = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide

| rev3Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{Cite book

|editor-last=Swenson

|editor-first=J.

| author-link =

| year = 1985

| title = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide

|url=https://archive.org/details/rollingstonejazz00swen

|url-access=registration

| publisher = Random House/Rolling Stone

| location = USA

| isbn = 0-394-72643-X

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/rollingstonejazz00swen/page/151 151]

}}

|rev4 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings

|rev4score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |authorlink1=Richard Cook (journalist) |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |authorlink2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |year=2008 |edition=9th |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-141-03401-0 |page=1071}}

}}

Afro/American Sketches is a jazz album by Oliver Nelson recorded in late 1961 and released in 1962. It is his first big band album as a leader.[http://www.jazzdisco.org/prestige-records/catalog-7200-series/#prlp-7225 Afro/American Sketches at Jazzdisco]

In a June 7, 1962, review for Down Beat magazine jazz critic Richard B. Hadlock said this of Nelson: "In his penchant for melodic simplicity and inner complexity he is close to the secret of Duke Ellington's most enduring scores, and in his thick linear voicing there are echoes of Gil Evans at his best."Down Beat: June 7, 1962, vol. 29, no. 12