Herbert Horatio Nichols (3 January 1919 – 12 April 1963) was
an American jazz pianist and composer who wrote the jazz standard "Lady
Sings the Blues". Obscure during his lifetime, he is now highly regarded by
many musicians and critics.
One of jazz's most tragically overlooked geniuses, Herbie
Nichols was a highly original piano stylist and a composer of tremendous
imagination and eclecticism. He wasn't known widely enough to exert much
influence in either department, but his music eventually attracted a rabid cult
following, though not quite the wide exposure it deserved.
Nichols was born January 3, 1919, in San Juan Hill,
Manhattan in New York City to parents from St. Kitts and Trinidad and grew up
in Harlem. He began playing piano at age nine, later studying at C.C.N.Y. His
first known work as a musician was with the Royal Barons in 1937, but he did not
find performing at Minton's Playhouse a few years later a very happy
experience. The competition didn't suit him. However, he did become friends
with pianist Thelonious Monk even if his own critical neglect would be more
enduring.
After serving in World War II, Nichols played with a number
of different groups and was in on the ground floor of the bebop scene.
However, to pay the bills he later focused on Dixieland
ensembles; his own music -- a blend of Dixieland, swing, West Indian folk,
Monk-like angularity, European classical harmonies via Satie and Bartók, and
unorthodox structures -- was simply too unclassifiable and complex to make much
sense to jazz audiences of the time. Mary Lou Williams was the first to record
a Nichols composition -- "Stennell," retitled "Opus Z," in
1951; yet aside from the song he wrote for Billie Holiday, "Lady Sings the
Blues," none of Nichols' work got enough attention to really catch on.
Here’s “Lady Sings The Blues” from above album.
Nichols never played standards, or wrote his tunes over
their chords, often breaking away from the 32-bar AABA format of Broadway and
Tin Pan Alley songwriting, to which even Monk’s compositions clung for
comprehensibility’s sake. The drum parts are intricately woven into the music,
and Nichols’ solos elliptically paraphrase his melodies rather than blowing
through the changes. There is intelligence, passion, and confident iconoclasm
in every phrase, but precious little showmanship — either in the music or the
man.
He signed with Blue Note and recorded three brilliant piano
trio albums from 1955-1956, adding another one for Bethlehem in late 1957.
Nichols languished in obscurity after those sessions, though; sadly, just when
he was beginning to find a following among several of the new things
adventurous, up-and-coming stars, he was stricken with leukaemia and died on
April 12, 1963.
Nichols habitually registered scores for new compositions
with the Library of Congress, and many have been published or recorded by
Roswell Rudd, Frank Kimbrough’s Herbie Nichols Project, and others in the
decades since, finally realizing his asymmetrical melodies and expansive formal
conceits with the horn sections he had always — and only — heard in his head.
(Info compiled and edited from articles by Steve Huey @ All
Music, Franklin Bruno @ hilobrwow.com and Wikipedia)
For “Herbie Nichols - The Art of Herbie Nichols” go here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www50.zippyshare.com/v/b8GZ4iFj/file.html
(4:12) 1. The Third World
(5:13) 2. Step Tempest
(4:23) 3. Blue Chopsticks
(4:43) 4. Cro-Magnon Nights
(4:44) 5. 2300 Skiddoo
(4:12) 6. Shuffle Montgomery
(4:23) 7. The Gig
(4:00) 8. Hangover Triangle
(4:24) 9. Lady Sings the Blues
(5:38) 10. House Party Starting
(6:04) 11. Sunday Stroll
(3:59) 12. Terpsichore
(4:11) 13. Riff Primitif
(4:53) 14. The Spinning Song
A big thank you to Giullia G @ Silky Denims for active link.
How grateful I am that Herbie made it to your hall of fame!
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