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t7't lI n o
t - l J L /
Lh\TPUBLISFIE,DORKS
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TheBeckoningPorometers f HerbieNichols portOne)
AnotherFriend
The Bebop Woltz
BusyBeover
Delights
Chonge of Seoson
DreomTime*
Enropture
FreudionFrolics*
Forest loor*
TheHoppenings
I Never Loved or Cored for Love
In Honorof Gorner
Ino*
Jomoico*
KornoKongi.
MomentsMusicol
One Twilight.
Old 52ndSt.Rog*
Possingshoughts*SomeWonderingBushmen*
StrongeCity.
Supplicotions
ProncingPrettyWomon*
Te-dum,Te-dee*
TwelveBors
Vocotion Blues*
VolseMocobre*
}e BeckoningPorometers f HerbieNichols portTwo)Discogrophy
RoswellRudd:ShortBioof o Jozz mproviser
Thble of Contents48
t 01 4t 82224263034
3ó3840424446485054
5ó586266ó870727476
788B90
-Recordedby the Roswell uddTrio n ClMpRecoros
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The Beckoning Parametersof Herbie Nichols
(Part One)by Roswell Rudd
In the last 50 years at least, t has been
possible o reachan overviewof u'hat remains
of the classical ystemsof the u'orld'smusics-
vest igesof raga, dastgah, ax im' makom,flamenco,griot, tango,discantussuper ibrum,
figuredbass, ree antasia, 'oluntan'.etc.,etc'
All of theseare orms n rvhich t\IPROVISATION
(especially mong the performers hemselves)
is fundamental to the act of acoustic realiza-
t ion. Theseclassicalsvstems \'ere ln iact,
pioneered y all-timegenius mprovlserplay-
ers,andby now it shouldbe ob'i'louso an-\'one
with earsto hear (asrvell as eves o see' that
North America'scontribution o :hls r" 'orld
tradition of performanceart-rnus:; :r'r'olvlng
improvisation s the domain of s'ha'. :s gener-
ally referred o as the blues and lazz Yes l: s
beena halfcenturyat eastof creativeconsir¡c-
tive,andrewardingarchiüsm: thepresen'a::onof soundrecordingsand their subseque:'':ral -
scription;scores;oral histories,plus t-llmsa:''d
video tape.All give ndispensable roof o:"i'':s
l i febloodmusic...whichhas penetrateC h'e
Americaneducationalnstitution or some ::''e
now to the point where high schoolsand
colleges yeagrammarschoolsand middle
schools) anpoint proudly o theirvariousen-
sembles ealingwith themusicofHandy,Oliver,
Armstrong,Ellington,Miller,Strayhom,Monk,
Tristanoand so forth. Now it is possible n
America o find sourcemusicnot just in the
departments f anthropologybut erymuch n
the conservatories nd citadelsof "serious
music"aswell.
And thus the works of HerbertHoratio
Nichols 1919-196$, significant omposer,creativepianist,poet,üsionaryand,without a
doubt,one of the most prolific and original
tunesmithsof mid 20th centuryAmericaare
thankfullyseeing he ight of publicexposure.
HerbieNicholswasa quietgenius.Youhad
to be the kind of listenerwhoseearsreached
out. If you were, henhis musichad an inexo-
rableway of creeping nto you. Once his
happened,ouwerehooked.heremaybe olks
¡hen and now who have been mpactedby
Herbie's layingand mmediatelydispatched
to paradise yit, buton me,he grewgradually
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and only after a while becamea permanent
residentof my mind'sear.
In 1960, was just beginning o open up
beyond wingmusic-Herbie'sunes,especially
the recordedones,were really extensiveand
dimcult. when hesawhow blown out I was by
the big ones (TheGig, Terpsichore, eyond
Rrcall, HousePaU, Spinning Song,The Third
World,etc.)he startedgiüng meOld52ndSteet
Rag, TWelveBars, Dream Time, Change of
Season and Tee-Dum, Tee-Dee. 4lith his
encouragement found thesemore manage-able.Herbiemay have beengentleand unas-
zuming,but he drew he ine n the sense hat I
had o be able oplay he melodybefore could
goon to improüse.That's what these outlines
havebeenandare ome:gentleparameters ut
parameters evertheless, ncompromisingn a
way. Thus the title of this introduction, "The
BeckoningParameters f HerbieNichols."
Thecompositionshe avemewereHerbie
way of indoctrinatingme to his approach o
compositionwith an eye owards mproüsation
whenwegottogether.Hewouldwouldgiveme
a bunchof freshlywritten leadsheetsandpo-
ems n his own hand,and we wouldstart rom
there. The ideawas that I would keep these,practicehem,and eam hem,so hat f we ever
gottoperformhis musicpublicly wouldbepre-
pared.We did performsome of thesepieces
beforehis demise ut a ot morehasdeveloped
since. SeeDiscography] syouknow the ronv
of much ine art is that t outlivesus all.
In the fall of 1985, oe lNichols,Herbie's
father, who was then 93 yearsold and still
climbing up 8 flights (l) becauseof a broken
elevator, ent me the catalogof Herbie's itles.
Everythingwas meticulouslydescribedand
dated.From t I concluded hat he had written
over 200 pieces n all kinds of idioms from
military marches,waltzes, rags, Caribbean
dance orms o elaborate howpieces, abaret
material,piano etudes,a lot of songs withlyrics and of course he ürtuoso jazz tunesof
his recordings. put down datesfor all the
manuscripts hat I had but for somereason
missed he one for Bryond Recall.
The ead sheet s a phenomenonhat ha-<
its roots way back n the earliestextemalized
forms of people'sabstract hinking.The leac
sheet omes ightaftersigning.Forme, he :.::
prerequisiteof a lead sheet s brevitt'
same ime, it is somehow nclusive
signer's or composer's intentions and t€:s:i
ality. This is a tough call: to have u:.it:s¡
outlines without excluding he auihcr s ,:,,-si-
crasies and nuances.There are sc.'-c * rt?
ful examples of lead sheets ::^. :escores of composer,/impror':s€- :i
lSth century Europesuch a-q.9:rir.-: '--.
-
===
=
=======
=
==
=
===
==
=
=
=
====
===
{
F. J. Haydn. Herbie Nichols :.'s€¡-'-:r:
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phenomenan his own time and so his lead
sheetsmeetthe prerequisites:melodyspelled
out (in nk)bassor inversionndicatedbycapi-
tal letter,and nnervoices ndicatedwith Ara-
bic numbers in pencil).Herbiedifferentiated
between beat pat terns as fol lows:
4 / 4= l Z 3 4
C (witha line hrought cut ime)L2 J4
Hiswaltzpattemgenerally 2 3
5 / 4 = L 2 3 4 5
Herbiewas equal$fluent n all 24 + keys
and felt his music, ike the cardinalvirtueof
equal emperament, as arbitrarilv ranspos-
able.A few of thesesheets r¡ere ailored o
where t sounded etteron trombone or his
needs,not withstandingm,r' imitations t
the ime.
Herbiewasalsoa copyist nddidhisdrafts
theold ashioned ayusing nkn'ellandmanu-
scriptpen. he esults rehandsome.lear, nd
personalized,nd they all suggest n airv,
linearsweepmoving o the right,emphasizing
theobliquehorizontal hrustof thecomposer's
style. If my own manuscripthas enabledm_r'
works to be performedwith anv degreeoiaccuracyt is becauseheseeadsheets etsuch
a highstandard.
What these ead sheetsdo not provide:
Tempo: ow fast,how slow,strictor rubato
Dynamic:oud >< soft <Phrasing: reathingplaces, lurred,
connected,eparated,hort, ong
Innervoices: rderandspacing f tones
betweenmelodyandbass overalldensity)
Intros,/segues nd subordinatematerial
around he edgesof thebodyof thepiece
My solution o the "what's eft out" part ofthe eadsheet:playa givenpieceanywayyou
can o startwith; sleepon it; comeback o it at
different imes;eventually t shouldsettle nto
atempo,/dlmamic/density-spacingroove hat
feels ight,zsoundsight oyou.Thiscanchange
from ime o timeandprobablywill. I mayhave
had the advantagef hearing heseplayedbythecomposer t one imea long timeago,but
considermyselfequallyhandicappedwhen it
comes o extrapolatingrom a given.The ead
sheet s a great eveler.Also, isten o Herbie's
playrngon the differentrecordings hat have
survivedandgeta feelfor his style. Listen,as
well, to recordingsand interpretations f
Herbie'smusicbyother olks.Also et the titlessuggest hingscircumstantial, motional,
psvcho-dramatic,tmospheric, tc.Hewasvery
much nto this.But irstand oremostdealwith
n'hat'sgiven.
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HerbieNicholshad his own way,his own
>tace.One can only remark,evenabout he
:arliestpieceshere,about he unusualchord
:rogressions,urns of melody,dissonances-
:.odem?...primitive?nd yet there s enough
::at is familiarandevenmore hat is so very
>rulful hatyou canconnectwith thesepieces.
:'lerbie'smusichasservedasa constant ource
:: inspiration,nformationand performance
:leasure.Over healmost40years hat I have
:.ad heseeadsheetsn mypossession,have
-ome back o themtime andagainup to this.ja-r'and till find newplaces n them andnew
'..,'aysto elaborateon them.May the richness
*-'iHerbie'smusicalitycoloryour experience f
rlaying rom hisbook.
RoswellRudd
September,1999
Kerhonkson,N.Y.
Editorial Considerations
Themusic n thisbook wasprepared n the
computer-typesettingrogram, inale 998. n
convertingMr. Nichols'music nto the Finale
format,certaineditorialadjustments eremade
regarding hord ymbols nd hespelling f n-
diüdual notes. n some nstances,heywere
made o reflectcurrentusage.Forexample,he
symbolA7 ("half-diminished th")was chosen
to replacemin7b5. he eader hould eaware
that the differencebetween hese wo chord
descriptionss significantor some olks.But tis hardlyan impasse.On a more subtle evel
the key-oriented pellingof individualnotes
üs-a-vis herelatedchordsymbolmaydifferat
times rom the composer's hen consistenc-"'
with thedirectionof themelodicineoverrcc:
thedictates f hekeysignature.n other ',':::s
I am speaking bout hepractice f usrr'.E,'l'
or naturals or descendingines sh:::'
natural or ascending,egardlessí i: ' ', - .
nature.This s something got tr::' - '-
still makesperfect enseo me .':.'..
anydiscrepanciesetweenhe ^": '.
tationand our own arepurei.' '
In any case, the notesof thr : ,-
endup being hesame' " , i : i - : 'thenote s writtenasB s::::
d i s c r e p a n c i e se l ' o : . J ' -
appreciatenowinga'l:..: ' ' - -
makecorrect ionsn s;: - '
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This, TheBebopWaltz, nd other waltzes n this
collectionand his recordings emindus that
Herbiewasvery luent n the diom,and t wasno
big deal o knock out a 32 measure ong n 3,24
But don't dismiss his as trite. because here'sa
compositionalmind at work here. Between he
transpositionsof his first 8-measuresectionand
isorhythmsderived rom it he generates wo more
disguisedlvdifferent8 measuresections,and so
he comes up n ' i th a i ina l fo rm of ABAC.
Ann(sc, f ,'r^Jd^t' ttlL
v
Scptaüc 1954
He phoned me one nSlx r. Xc o2 and askedme to come up
to the Riüera C¡ubard ¡t¡a: rquid I like to play as his swan
song to the place a.-d :rr ctrxe n'asAnotl¡er Friend---exactly
what I happened o bc pra.::cing at the time he called.
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AruOTHERFRIEND
A7(bs)
D7 ( bs)
A7 ( hs)
HerbieNichols
G 7 ( , s r
nb
D7 bs)
sbt B
D7( bs)
C 7 +s)
G7 bs)
Ffi dimT
ú
B -
fl@Roswell Music,/BMI
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-lfeWf- ,ú /rh¿"¿.oifr6r*)
$^,
This manuscripthas a little more to i: :l-.a:.*-;:
Mary Lou Williams recordedon Atla:l::: R.¡- -::>
in l9Slusing the title Mary'sWaltz ';.:- r,:'*.:
listen to her recording becauseshe rr a-<€3.- ..
influencedby Herbieat thetime.Alsc :3=.. .r Í
writing waltzes from day one. The 1 - j -?-
time waltz feel s shifting to emphas:s ^t:t ¡ I
pickingup into l, with moüng figuress-e¡5: - i
the two dottedquarter-notehemiola ,,.r. --r -i 'j(
conventionalbasic figure of todar-S 3---- .. '.--
S.-.-:-:-.,: - . :'.:::.--:.:. :'--:::$'ith 10and9 mea-'.*-: 3 :c,:. :S :: . : . : : ' .easureinalA SeCtiOn.
: : . : : : - r i r : - \ - - : : : - rLa l hand SpanWh iCh
* rr-i l : : : . : i . : : : . c p;a-r' the assand suspen-
!,...-.Sr ::¿ se :nij endÍngall rvith his left hand
r- :: i :: i :.q:.:handcompletemelodic utonomy.
.-'::: -::::úu;ilon differentiatingetween ied8th- i: ::.:.e:sand I 6thnoteswhichwas something- J ' - - ¡ . ¡ : " r ' d n
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frbt
#&I 2l
{6 +
4,Gdt 1 .tL t
4 / t ¿- + s J
March, 1950
del,t-'í t^'^ '
1 l
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THnBneopWnrrz
Bbn¡n
HerbieNichols
F zbmin
Brm¡o Grmiq/F Abz
rr-l rr-1
,2
oRdtsü
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Abz +sl
E m i n 7 A l
Gbmin/A
G z t b s l
Bh <bs> Abttbg)
Ebmin Abt
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+r'ry tt;"t'¡lq"f -b(u{rw 4;hnu
Hb
r-/ ¿
This is mostly a ürctrg-<*-e.::;e: r:-r:E :nvolving
figurative melody in ;-*:¡:s ::rÉ- --¿:::-<i-:3 :o pass-
ing chords. lxattemF=E - H:c¿:3 'i:-< ::l :¡ombone'
I found the 8th noies rr--S-: i :L: ::'3 1"'himsical
nature of the harrnocr fiis ':É '-ái: :;: :" could also
be played an octare *3.*: : : : : : :-:3: 'e ' kept it
interesting for me- \r--€ :tri ¡ :: :3=3C $',ouldbe
improvisation enoug!: l:r*.-::: i ::'3: s aiready so
filled n doesn't eal\'¿d jr I r--t i.-:i::l:s¿tion' But'
who knows?
I 4
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¿ofr,.ót'February ,1960
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BusvBnaven
Ebt bs¡
Ae l
HerbieNichols
¡ibtlC
r +
*. .+
L.
u !
t o
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C t <bs¡lGb
Dbmai7
Ebt<bs>3
Dbmaj7 Ab min
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Herbie was so goodat extemporizingntros,interludes, egues, tc., hat youwishsuch leet_ing thingswere somehow ncluded n all thesemanuscripts.Fortunately, ere you do havean8-measure ersewhich safinediversionor
the
highlydramatic,unconvenüonal IO_measureho_rusandcadenceof thecoda [markedüne].It maybe enough to play as it stands,without improvi_saüon,but be sureand rideup and offofthat great
i n i t i a l suspens ion o f th e chorus .
Al;"A+'-t'F-
V" ú' l:lr{-G^.
r . Vr { '
A¡¡Fs : ¡*5
t8
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"Theazzsound s surelya iving hingandasapianoplayer
I find it mostly in old uprights. Sometimes hesefaded
pianoswith mutedstrings, trangewoodwork,anduneven
innardshave a way of giüng up fast and resonantover-
tones.Eachnote shootsback at you like a bassdrum.In
suchsituations, ssoonas find I am not financially iable,
I letmyselfgoanduseanykindof unorthodoxtouch eeded
to dig out the strangesoundswhich I know are in the
instrument." HerbieNichols
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DnucHTS
nbr- 3-l
HerbieNichols
G m i n
Abm¡¡
fr
C*:nl * 5r
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C ¿i-/Bb
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A personalavoriteof mine.This sagoodmodel
of a form hatHerbiewas nnovating owards he
end of his life, where a song beginswith a
recognizable hrase hat thenplays tselfout in
subsequent easuresA ) The nitialphrasehenreappears,maybe n a different egisterbut
recognizable,nd t plays tselfout in a slightlv
Cgb
different way (A2) It pops up again in perhaps a
further disguisedway and plays itself out again
perhapsdifferently (A3),and it may even reap-
pear four or more times in other compositions
geeDreomTime,pp. 24-5). n the caseof Changeqtse;-.cn and Llei\e furs,7t comesback 2 more
:i: : .es: i, -{2.A3.
tré,,,.a
easo4
.=;,,,¿
=:?- =: -J
- '?-i- - j; '
! * - ; - :
fr-
f,^-ñ--
¿¿
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Cnnxcn or SeASoN
t rBb
F z t b s i
D m i n t G t
Fzrbsrh tr C
F m i n E
Abs tbs i s
Fztbsl Bbtrb, Ebtrbs¡ Abqr¡sl
C z tbs l
Fz<bsl D min Bbt
Ct tbs> F min Bbt
Herbie NicholsFmin E
Ebt sf rEe¡
C t tbs¡ F min Bbt
e .
. - ;ll> '
á
G C z t b s l
Dt<bs>lAb q
@RoswellMusic,/BMI
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v
Straight-aheadbluesbut I can'thelp think-
ing about TWelve ars.Boü tunes have a
recurringAphrase wiü differentendings'
-?recnG.,lolafzl,1,
-\
17. Fr(^\
l , -*re
-l) e)
24
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DnEnu Tlnne
E" ' r @ c '
F ttr
t l A
Herbie Nichols
BbtlF Et
Bb-ir,,/Eb Ct F AilE DminE On
E t ,
AilEt -3 - l
B h 8 . ,
Bb/Dt -3 - l
Bb*i'lDb
t
GtlB
@RoswellMusic,/BMI
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V.ry veryemotional, eaming,oadedwith all
kinds of suspensions. stronglysuggest ou
focusyour mproüsationalskills on extemporiz-
ing ntroand nterludeetc.,decorating round he
outside f thispiece.Thesong tselfs repletewith
eiy;;, t, "ni1
+
7i? ¿
)-t #G> tt
#^ tt tll,'[.t"
e&r,
b4. , ¡ ^
,4,j r - {¡^
9rt
composed ariation. recallat le* *r üb'
ent groovesgoing on in the cq¡s d ¡ qFchorus: he A section'smelodyempñxan¡ fÉ
note ripletswasconventionallycorrpo4 €
emphasizing uarternote tripletsw6 püq¡aü
lockedhands,/block hord,/unisonhy{ntr Cf*
Everything lse,andespeciallyhe elease. EtÉ
26
! ^ ; t ' l
É'{ + to themeasure. hiswasoneof themore
ii$craie pieces ndmysolutionwasoplayheret* Jrre. do the call and response hing with
|rr-i e . he would play measures and2 and
* rcrlid bothplaymeasures -8, etc.Hismusic
rt rr:a" generoushis way:plentyof opportunity
fra"ir:,ng backandforth.
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4
gbltrt¡1
n?J
t eU,ne j7
-4', :7
! nr,t, ' i ' i
, e l J
' {, I
l-l r^r
?)¡
\-
February9, 1960
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EunnPTuRE
E o o
Ebmai Abtf-T3-1 r
C/D D.
D - Po,-r
HerbieNichols
. D z
Dbmaj7
Dzrbsl6
P*¡ G m a j T
Gbt
B m a j T
t r A a Aor¡l-r
At Dz bsl
DbmaiT
Gt tbstlD>
28
C txl * 'ci- Bltl
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Gt <bstlDbt
Bh Eh@s) D z ( + > l A b
P,
D tttt
E e ,
D m a j T G maj t Dbmajt Filt
Dz(+s>/Ab D t G m a j T
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As you might imagine, could only play the
melodyvery slowly n 1961"'and orgetabout
improvising.Today can almostplay the lvhole
melodyup to tempo,but I feelnow asI did then
that this is an incredibledrum escapade'A is a
seriesof accentsor "kicks;" B is a brief fast walk;
C is a l¡tin feel with triplets; D, a sequence of
horvlingbop chords;E, he samehom fanfare our
different wa)4s;F, 7 measuresof fast kicks'
9trrul,t^ fJ'"' {"1" t/;-A,L
g:' l
* *1-'*¿a
v gá,'") ',F'¡
. * rt- ?-
t ea?
v
eñ)+ ,* uli Gt-
*+I
a-f
ff-1'l
s
z 4 + ' + ¿
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"l've alwaysmaintained hat anyonewho playsor even
contemplates layinga song of Herbie's s making this
planetabetterplace.Thismusic eachesmany hings,but
most mportantly he sanctityof our mindsand magina-
tions-the Third World that lives in each of us'"
- RoswellRudd
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FnnUDIANFnortcs
F z tbs l
HerbieNichols
B b i Efi rbs)
E mai7 B O
C¡ - Fto. - Cto EGb'u¡z
Bbz<bsl
E t ' F . A tt
C u r s l
Gb st lC
E m a j T
Bbztbs),i, Fl Arnin/G
3i
€-r:::gl n;si( :¡'r*
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A min/G
G maj7(b3) G z bsXle)m a j T
Gbztbs l
Ah <bs> G ztbs l
Gzrbs \ ¡ r iEC
B zrbslEbt
F z hs l
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Herbie ovedgettingnto longdiscussions nd ustas
much loved to observepeopleplayingaroundwith
found objects n the room.Heplayed he melodyon
theslow sideand verydeliberately...straightths.
Forc f F *,----é-' fi^n,zhls
P-¿
8¿?íttij-
.-- ̂ ,- l1t4b¡
úr
$
Alt
31
xl t*o
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Fonnsr FlooR
Fa Bbt
Abz tbs l
Et AtAh Abt
F tlc
HerbieNichols
BhlAbEbmrn BhlD
Dbmin
Abzrbs l
Bbt!
_ - * *-
*
FtlC
BhID
Dbt Gbt
O RoswellMusic,/BMI
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Ttris is a l2-bar bluesvariationwith a beautiful
call and response attern n measures -8. The
way thatheperformedhiswas to use he first8
measures f Prokofiev'sLoveof ThreeOranga
(MarchTheme)as an introductionand an
occasionalnterludebetweenchoruses. oucan
see how this dovetailsbeautifully nto Ifte
Happerungsf played n the samekey.
lta¡¡e^in/eI
A
F€?ru:.
-ü
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THn HnppENINGS
F min Dbmln F min Dbmin F min Gb7
Abma¡ bi Db7 F majTlA Eb7
G m i n T
Cz +s)
HerbieNichols
C t
(-
.-+
O RoswellMusic,/BMI
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This hasaverbal ndicatorof balladand s avery
straightforwardA A B A 32measure iece'But I
compensateby playing like L¿wrenceBrown:
tastefulembellishments nd somerubato iber-
ties over strict time. Meanwhile'Herbiewould
tb'
pour out his sentimentsof unrequited ove in
a way that would make all the ladies
presentdeeplyconcerned'Simpleconventional
structuresike this oftenlendthemselveseadily
to imProvisation.
f fl"te, Ltr"J:@ F" Lov*-
drl" tf;-l"l*
It
Fc¡nr-r 19*ó
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I NEvrn Lovno On CnnepFon Love
HerbieNichols
t r n b
t r e b
F min Bbt
F min Bbt
Eb"i" Abt
€>
F tg E b
n
EbmaiT Dbmaj7
F min Bbt
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Herbie'ssalute o one of his heroes,poking un
at Erroll's (andhis own) quixoticsides'Oneof
Gamer's echniquess what I call a rocking eft
hand: the left-hand pinky finger hits the bass
note immediatelybefore the beat' followed by
the rest of the left-handfingersplairng di¡ectry
on thebeat.
Startsoft but let the raisedoctaves,maior 7th
againstdominant7th,poco ococadencesingout;
alternatea rocking eft hand (measures and2)
with light stride (measures and 4) ' At the
releaseuse a rocking eft hand for 4 measurestlrenstartcrescendoing.Wo-handhemelodyin
parallelmotion with five-fingered hords'
l* lÉr
grace-pedalinghebas. Plry-Hh¡rnotes with tremelos,building
toadoubleforte,thendrqnyhafrtherepriseofA.Improüseby
doingal lofyourErrol lC¡arrg*onüesechangesandhavefun.
$
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Iu Hoxon Or Gnnxnn
t r n bHerbieNichols
Bbt
'' Bb, Ebt +bt Dbztbs l
E min A't
- *
Dbz bsl
Ab-,/cbBh tr nb
Bbt
F tbt
il
, F { m i n 7
Ebminz
O RoswellMus:: :l'1
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Pronounced Eye-nuh." riginallyplayedslowly
andhauntinglywith he"suncomingout"on the
bridge.Heneversaidwho shewas,but he used
to writesongsespeciallyor ladiesaffiliatedwith
places e worked n. Soplaying hesongwas ikesendingapersonalovegreeting.Because f the
longishnotes,deepharmonies nd hebeautiful
way t lieson the hom, t wasn't ongbefore was
tr¡¡ng to double t up, andtoday t's more ike a
merengue han a ballad.Same onality as
RichardRodgers' over:he A sectionbegins n
Db,üe bridgestarts n F.
du64't/'"4g-
9b€1
t2
oü 1950
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INn
tr Abt A t A t
HerbieNichols
Abt bsl
Abt A tt
D min G m i nC z
A t A t
Abtrbs¡
F D m i n T G m i n i C :
Ab.
Abt
Gb
A t
Gb
A t
il
F m i n T
i RoswellMusi. ¡1.1
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Real-lifepsychodrama ncapsulatedntoperfectcircular om: A A B B C C B B A. Depending nhowyou ookedat t, theJamaicanrgwaseitherboonorbane. Mhichever,ecouldn,t top hink_ingabout t. Themerementionof t brought orth
the opening fanfare of the name itself:
'la..maiiüiiiiiii..ca,,,ollowedbyexotic caleswithblurred onesservingasflashbacksnto rhumbapassages. hatCsectionwith chromatical$ is_ing minor,/majorZthswouldbe thestormor thepainfulpart...then nd
with the nitial fanfareandan -Amen-"
Jt^tru ltr lr;zf;.loL
' -?'-2>'t
----AFf|2e rsox
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)nurucA
E c ,p, HerbieNichols
C -
Bz bs l
EqminZ
A m a j T
j3l n maj b3) At
F m a j T Eg minT
Ec,
E c , F t I ' : t ;* =
* F-
*
Cfimin
ls2lntt-3-]l-:-l
E O m a j T ( b 3 ) D +
Dz +s)
B u ' o s l
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Researchpaysoff. On onevisit, he gaveme some unesalongwith a sheetuponwhichhe hadcarefullycopiedout a couple dozenexotic scales.He was alwaysreading,always ooking forreferencematerials o supplement is enryclopedic nowledge, lwaysotting downremindersofwhathedidn't know andshould eam. Youshould ry someof these,Roz," eferring o the scales.
fo'Ún¿' {t l" '/;-Anbgú.r' -7e) --¿
o K '
February,196l
"Lookwhat I got from this one.- lylttl Jlr *started o play a tune he had written rG ¡
scale dentifiedas Kama Kangi.The resr.* s ¡
\ichols AABA riff tune with the Karna f.Ggl:sng upat heendingofeachA secüon. hesÉ*
:s* is kind of interesting,but the timing -S
#
-s:r'al relationshipsof the opening phrase€Erst the irstchordcreatea ight n space fterrn¡á anythingwould sound good.yeah,I just
hnc :his ixedpicturen mymindof him leaning
rt¡ Jut beginningand my delightat the sound
lcr::ng out.
I
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I(nnxn l(aucI
Gbo
Absr ¡ s t
Bbztbsr
Herbie lc: : -s
BrlF
BLzl/tb Eb
AIE Bbo<o-i,sl
AIE Bb (wnoterone) Bb Ortot. ,="
AIE $!6 lomit:¡ Bb 6 to-,r
C m a j T ,
Ct[E
t
Knñ; ia . : ' .
CilE
CilE
BbtlA>
F m a j T
D ¿m Ct rbs t
B' - .\r Ez
@RoswellMusic,/BMI
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Two-beat moderato, a little song with magi-
cal touches-a subtle modulation in the 2nd
ending, grüng the bridge the effect of a true
release.The whole-tonedescending hordsat
the end of the bridge are a respectful bow toEllingtonianadventurousness.
flforr*,ca{ lan!;.hh
(T u,v?
e b*,, l€
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MovrENTs MnclcAL
Ebr-t1
HerbieNichols
A s
| r ' o
1 2 .I F a
t r o b C g B m i n t B b
E,--'.--1
G t- . ¡
f--rl--
w IC
-r--, !+
Ah t+s¡
I RoswellMu,s:: ::.1:
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One of the ongwaltzes. do his solo rombone.
It's ow on thehom andchromatic,which makes
for a slushysituation. find if I slow it down a
little and heareachnoteseparatelyn my mind's
earbefore externalizet, the subtledirectionsnthe line come out clearer.After 45 secondsof
setting he tonality I go into the actualmelody.
I've never been able to figure it out, but right
before he endhe establishes tonality slightly
above he restof the piece.Whetheryou endat
thefne orwhetheryou repeat o the beginning-eitherway, t's harmonically resh.
one-*¡' {^l,r; -|,-.hL
| , t ^ ib,i,r¡f{¿,/
{ v r t " ) l
t
Febl:a:.' 1960
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A NewLove
A twinkle in her eye that bespeaks-a
A sparkle n her sighs that suggest-a
But two weeks ater, I find, that I am- HerbieNichols
deepyearning?
deep onging?
still learningl
::
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Oun TwltcHT
HerbieNichols
D ¿i*
fu{ '
:
DbIAb
CIAb
EbIAb
L i i : r ;F-, g_:.
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Bb ¿i*/Ab
Dbrni 7
Bb"i"z
Bb ¿i"/Ab
Eb*i,'/Gb BbtE
Abtrbs>
Ebnaj
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New Orleans rDixieland, syouprefer.Thiswasthe composer's 96l Christmas ard o me andseveral therassociates.hevarious opies ,veseenwere all painstakinglydone from hls orrrrhand. think he played his
once or me on re_
quest,but he thoughtof it as a joke so it nevercameunderscrutiny.When firstmetHerbie,hiswas hekindofmusic wasplaying, eriod.Herbieplayed t beautifullyand he would alsoslip in
"anachronisms."
+"y 0l¿ t!/ Sf Er,'d"t¿'ltJ'rL
,r;,;,\€*g g g
lsq¡n 4.S
54
a- ,
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Orp 52NDSr. Rnc
Herbie i ; : : - -q
Bb¿i*z B, -
Bbzt*sr
i = * ;
rI RoswellMusic,/BMI
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Musing out loud. Startwith a provocative2-bar hrase;ollowit with a slightvariationof itself;do
the same hing againwith a slightlydifferent2-barphrase;ntroducea "new" 4-barphrase; omple-
ment t with a slightlydifferent4-barphrase.Nowbring n a totallycontrasting jocular,/skipping)-
bar phrase ollowedby a 2-barcomplement;ound hewholethingoff with a 2-barphrasewhich
says n tones:whatever hatwas, t5 gone.-.ftimeo moveon).Heplayed his rightup to tempo,and
although was reading he notes,I reallywasnt hearinghe ntervals.The chromaticisms ere ike
A¡¡..r' -1'Frroi+>a-- o d"ltrt1,..t*
quicksand ndkeptunderminirg4yC*pectations. ere againslowdon-l-I
"OneTWilight,"o makesureeachmffiql
comes hroughclearly. spendsflE l-f toutset ust mining he first 6 notesdFg
around...their ound has alwa¡s irUiÉ -
Aftera while I transpose own and go iDt
cunposition itself. I use pretty much th -
pmcedure the second time around, bf ñ
3t
February1960
ilenng a shorter fragment of melody to
nprovise with at the beginning and a
Gcending chromaticscale to get into the
rtnposition itself.Herbieson asublimeevelof¡reosiüonal influencen thispiece,as closeas
ry humanbeing can come to mirroring the
rxls ea¡with thetempered ystem.Hehad suchr¡cnrte pitch; it was no problem for him to
H-sing-play suchsensitivemelodicshifts.
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PnssINGTHoucHTs
Abztbs l
Ebt
Abztbs l
b b 7JC ztbs l
Abzrbs lAb*u¡
b3)
B bm i n
G - t b s l G ztbs l
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Beautiftrlhumor.This s oneo¡ *re *¡si *ner*r-rlungslveplayedand t was unflnished(hesaid)at the
time.But distinctly emember'Jr h¡slrscr rrznderingaway(A1-A2),urningaround B)andwan-
deringback(A3). couldbarel)-ead n5 { :rc!.et much ess eel t enough o attemptan mprov.But
one hing s for sure: hateryencrre ea.:.d rr intodealingwith the complexmeternemesis.A
great oping piece...Herbie's¿:'-<c ias-c :rom a dreamand "it's funny as all get out."
In the middle (B)you have thosebrüü ffi
the bushmen uddenly topl Enter tt G*
torychords,whichseem o beasking fi:
we, where are we?"Answeredby a deso+t
flat 5 glissando:(the leader) "l dotrtüür:
58
ür¡lr}}cow." Herbiehad a deep respect or
rfta:. culture(oneof his heaviest ines of re-
xr:: andhis humorhere spurelyout of revqr-
rs{r He's at his programmatic est here.
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'Jc
F1 t1
(O t ¿ :
A¡")ÉúG
November,96 l
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SonaEWervoERrNGusHMEN
A b T D b I C n IC ? B ? E z ¡btoh cbtHerbieNichols
C 7 8 7 E 7
E"l
cz bSl
D t , r $
@ n b t
ob D m a j ? DI^'
cz r hD
fr
t - - r" _ :---
C|n l l f r . ! . :
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nbzbD
Db7
B z ?
G 7 C 7 t 5 , F-r ¡5)
B > - ' 1 1
¿lhobz cb l c7 B7 E7
G 7 ( b D
C7 bS)
D 7 ( b 9
c 7 ( b 9
Eebz
¡rh/D
ebzbD Ez-
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Long, howling ballad. Somehou.. hs gor pr¡: onthe side.Oneof the ast thingshe gare:re arj scI never heard him do it. I got in:o p;.Í.üg :: 3L-\..eand more in the early g0s as an mtr{*rga*odtrombone ballad. Those long ca-s rti _:a._:::¡,
off phrasesare masterfui :n:e=e-¡:: :¡_s ::
blueseelingntoaballadormat,andheextendsüe long calls over into the bridge or furtherdevelopment. stiil play t frequentlyafterwork'outdoors)across he AshokanReservoir.\en'soothing.
-91n, cc
4,e) -?Í
{r* f,: \-r-'7-'¿-
ale*t* tt¿lrsls
oC."hurEU)
c-t€'I
v*&ir1'1 *_-'lt'{G}
o *
+.
o¿
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a"rl
March,1958
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SrnaruceCrry
HerbieNichols
Ct <bsilGb
.{ r Dz bs¡/tr1,
61
e*l*-sn
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Fmin/C
Fmin/C
AbTlC G maj7(b3)
Gz bsl
D m i n T Gz bsl
Dt<bs>lfub
C m l r G
G majT(¡3)
Dz bsl Dr bsl D z ( , :
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Here,aswith EnraPtwelq¡ are presentedvithaltemativegrooveswithin a singlesong' It seems o me thd ttusbE sbghth'faster hanEnrapture. remember heintrobeing n üe ke1'ofB He rÉ re rcpsukring,using Oths nder8thnote riplets.Hehalf-noted hecontPard ¡¡5d ¡*¡scred octavesn the righthand on measures
st49
-l i :*il
5-l l. I would come in strongon th rEn,ending interpolating winging n a *t ñ |downfromthere o the astg measu¡et*¡tinto my B-flat pedal tone. Over h¡s r {¡:¡ncredible iligree/arabesques. he hx
&
ffi at the very beginning-the flat VI chord
lrcg io the flat II under the Lydianscaleffi'4'-still sendsanelectricshock hroughme.
rye by now I can elaborate t but then I*u i only be stunned.What a lucky dayl
r,,7{ll ;
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SuppLIcATIoNs
C m i n F l
HerbieNichols
3 3
Ebzt lsr
C ma j Ab t Gbt Bt E t
F rein /f,b Bbmin Fjbt Dbma¡ G,bt3
G; Cs Fz F min7/B¡ F "
AlBb A,lBb
E t
E tt
Cs
e RoswellMusic,/BMI
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Abo known asprettltWottwz*or,.g On ¡nanr.of his üüd, proganmatic preces r nq;d berappingdialogueor appropriatcnerr r*bhe played,although never¡enrc*üerFe óft¡t
ihis on a glg. I especial$ ike the snapshimmyigure at the end of the bridge.perfectsegue,perfectntro:It,s heprancel
ftn.t f-t uonln---é
k¡¡-r-
Hl l tó&
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PnaucINGPnnrrv WonnAN
t r c
CtlBbF Fmin/AbC/G
HerbieNichols
A t D t G ;
' ' D t G t c
' ' D',Gz *s) c
@ c
f
G t E m i n T
Dzt bsl
Dzrbsl
F min/Ab
i RoswellMusic,/BMI
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It's a rant. Couldn,t find it in h¡s.z+logtr hr Irememberthetime of that parüc¡*aSlÍ_rogc$!Ér
He said he wrote it that da),m Jt r_cr-ftr:: ¡my place. The subwav rurnbi:ngt ¡.rj :!:cgrumblingsbehind the cordlaj farr¿r ¡13 ¡5:t¿r
-4
io me now as hen.Hewrote t low,,likedt thatx'ayandgroanedout the chromaticgracingsasheplayed,eering,ellingme oslide em,run em
:ogetherlThiswasasideof him I,dneverexperi_enced efore:12barsof puremadness.
I - - lF, ic- oeL
J
lQ!* :
7A
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Tn-ouM,Tn-oee
C m i n
Abmln
F m i n T
B min
C min
Bhz rbs l
HerbieNichols
F+lGb
F+lGb
! ¡ :- a F
-r:rr¡d;
F z
D z - Gb¿m C t tbsl
F-!E, Abmin
D ztbs l
A r 5
t
0 RoswellMusic,/BMI
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I usuallyspeak f Tlsrfie8arsandCt¡r€ú rrg.l;.
son n thesamebreath n terrts of n& íce
AI A2A3.
TWelvears:Al A2,\]
4 { a
Change f Seann:At A2A]
r o 9 :
Then there's George Gershwin'sMine which
\ichols reallydug:
AI A2 AI A3
8 8 8 8
nen there'sall kind of world music-for example,{::an griots-where the melody is basically
:!r same at the beginning of each phrase each
::=e but there can be all manner of variations
i:* rridpoint through ending of each phrase
t¡:i ime.
dr----
ffi
72
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^A p r e s e n t t o m e f r o r n i i e = - : s : : : - - : : - - e - . - - : : : . : s t h e o n l y p i e c e o f n o t a t e d m a n u s c r i p t t h a t
survived he flood u,hici. ,' ,-tc-i "..-'. 'r.-:- ., : . .:,::.:.3 Herbie eft behind in the way of personal
effects.VacaüonBIuaa::. ' r - ¡ .: I -: - ' .-: I rr ' -: '=nelodicsketchwithwords,andithadsuch
adeepe f fec tonmetha is : . - - : . : ; a : : ' : , *1 j - . : ' s l : . : h e l y r i cs :fee l thesameway lJus twhen l
geta good ine going n r.', :i:: :i - - :l 'r i ' ' -::. ',,,'orlddoesn't ntemrptl Herbienever really
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the "dreaming into being" part pos*<:'r: -.¡: 'r
'¡.'asable to accomplishwhat he d:c ,r'-- a'r.a.-
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Herbiewrotenunerousrrzltzesbegnn:ng¡ Jr1940s ndrightupuntil úreerrd HcS,4!d.$cr,:with a "classical" ?) eel \-er!-F& g€.ü-flectingmore n thedirectiona ChaF ¡ SE:.¡¡ssthan azz;no 8th-note+rrcopaoms I ücr¡glt r
wasaparodywhen I first erpc-rgrt |r .s*
it: he'd be hummingalongwith a glazed_overlook, nterjectingastrunsoverdeftswellsof thes¡stainpedal.Buthe was veryseriouswith thisgrooveand t reallyworked or him.-{ 38-bargem,whether mprovised
n or not.-t¡eni thesecond eatof eachmeasure: 2 3.
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The Beckoning Parametersof Herbie Nichols
(Part TWo)
by Rswell Rudd
In the fall of 1960, *'h€n {cth ** **#
teachingme someof his t¡ri6, E-rffiCltt
Keil, hena seniorat YaleUnirtamf! *f :n
round up a coupleof otherPt46 - ñl h
for an eveningof amming n tl: ffiCtütFfdining hall. I wantedthe best - r I nt
HerbieandTina Brooks o goafq
We picked Tina up at thc dtfl|rF. r|:,
Thesewere especially ard i¡rs b h, F*
run-downand he didn'teven ¡arlh fh
Herbiesaw his,hegaveme hÉ ¡fl**
you-solook followed by his faa -¡rn
for all occasions, is self-styled --{}fr*
cry sound(hereaftereferred o ¡s tr S
thought or arnoment, hen usts¡il;flf
driving directions.An hour lats * m
ourselvessomewheren the deÉpHil, lh
got out and disappeared nto r lfi,
reappeared fterwhat seemed n r.fl+rt'Ff
a tenor saxophone. nd we went ü r¡} r nHavenwithout a word, savefor an ff
repriseof The Sound.
It was gleat to hearHerbieon a god ¡I
for a changeandplayingwith Tina,urhq {l
* shapehe was in, couldreallygiveHerbiea
nr: íor hismoney, armonicallyspeaking.erbie
*o playedsolo, performeda few of his own
Éts. and wassoon surrounded y a small but
tts.-:ns€rowdof mesmerizedmusic overs.After* cü¡certhewas bombardedwith questions nd
*t offinto the night n deepdiscussionwith a
F¡¡p of adoringundergraduates. neof them,
r lsror student n philosophy, ameup to me
*:ut day, qazy look n his eye, haking is
H srdisbelief: Wheren Helldidyouever ind
lb gtn->-
*. 'Jr€wayback o NewYorkHerbie old me
* eEeat time he hadpartyingon through he
t!!: *'ith his newly acquired entourage,
ffirging poems, hessmoves, oliticalviews,
* cryeriences,etc. Prefacedwith several
ffigs of TheSound,he summed t up: "ln
+$pcct.I didn'tknowabunchof crazy ollege
* ;cr¡ld be such stimulating companyl" He-t;a ieave.Hewas ready o settle n.
rtücr.*six months later we went back up to
* :; garticipaten a benefit concert for the
¡ffre lohn Lee Hooker,Paul Bley and Cecil
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Taylor were also on the bill. Herbie's segment
consisted of two of his tunes: Changeof Season
and The Happeningsas played by the composer
on piano, Royal Blue on sax, Steve Swallow on
bass, Billy Higgins on drums and yours truly.Herbie was given an acetate recording of this
performance by the producers of the concert. I
didn't hear from him for about a month after that.
Then hepopped n one da¡'lmking betterthan
I had ever seenhim. Said he'd beenrestingout at
the Baroness's Pannonicade Kcn€swatter). He
felt great. 'Just listen to this recorÉrngwe did up
at Yalel" That record was \¡'orrr or¡t he had
obviouslyplayed t to death.hr tr *a ecstatic
while we sat listening.Wheners Rqralor I got
clumsyand stumbled over tfr üa€es t would
cringe, but Herbie only bearnedad madeThe
Sound. t was hosehomsplarq cr r least rying
to play his melodiesand :: ras a: ¡rrefutable
documentation f this,prob$f fcr $É firsttimein his ife. At anyrate,hera dr+'':a+i'on a roll.
A few weeks ater he*as hxt again.This
time he made a beeline s f,r F-p 'Roz,see
whatyouthinkof this? t ras r:ffidbf a dream
about African nomads' ntl. * Sniliar big
frame swaying over the and long
tendrils effortlessly licf=g f *. peculiar
flashes f melody heah¡qsss:-*rGÉa relaxed,
offhand delivery in coa:lrf :c :he heavy
concentrationand stal.i:ÉqüH.rfr sr muchof
hismusic)he started rto scr¡fng r. odd meter
with sliding chords. ¡ogs¡S*rt absolutely
spellbinding. omewhere long he ine t turned
aroundol itselfand ustmagicallywoundts way
back. "I had you in mind for this, I hope t will
sound,good or the trombone."Leaningback,
lookingskyward,puttingon hisbestWebeseechTheeO lord face,we embarkedon this exotic
opusnwhat hadbythenbecome urusualmode
of rehearsal: erbie laytngn two or moreplaces
at the same ime;oné,where was; two, where
the'musicwas; hree,etc.,wherehe eventuallv
wanted t to go. t'sa'hard eeling o describe, ot
becauset was26yearsago,,butbecauset rvas
so unusual: wrack my.brain in vain for a
comparison.He neverforcedanything and '.-{
therewas this enormousbut gentle93i,.r:
pervading he átmosphere, oaxingme Cr ir:J
accommodatingll thedisparity. hen re:rr-ilr
somegreatmoments f complemenar i-¡- r*':::{
out of the struggle:Mé'dgo along or h:,';i -¡..:
th is sometimes: inal lyhe pause: - : , : { f , :skyward,madethe sound,put on :,-s :*.q ,rLt
Thank TheeO Lord face:"Well :: ,.-: "j+: r
thought...it"sot finished etanc: :,r:r: i. *,-rr
on t somemore:..butyou ereg:¿: i-;: " -Lrrr
hepulledoutanothernewonec¿-*: -'"r.*r*r:I:-*r
combinationblues and lullali l*: {'f; ,L*$
sweetand rocking,real-dalrt r;:L'-,r * -:i--.
chords....Whatarelief,thoug:: * :rr " ¿:
reallycookon.Herbiewasa:- {jrf"trirff:r--€
player.Thosesideswith Ch.x":r¿¿r i:::^¡rs and
ShadowWilsoñ, or exar,-.:,É -;r ¿dkeep t
right in the sameplaceBr.i rln r :trr¿ lot just
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droningandriffing,or tumarul¡ ag cü¡dxzcthe hell out of it by pla¡rirg r: ¡rro c =ct kqssimultaneously ndpustung:he r kres ¡i o¡,erkingdom come. He did rh:s qxr-! hf rx!:absolutecommand/delibera¡r¡".Frcc:s¡E
¡devastatingabsenceof violcrrr rFlFtÉ!É -rlrt
chargedwith intelligencearf r!* ¡X }rrrAnd there I was, groping Í* rtc rar! ryscream, ranticallyl
I always came away frron t$ {¡t+Grtlcomplete$overwhelmed nd¡fru qr¡landwaydown, otallytraLEr¡*d Frlt*; *
sameway he came n: frienür ry r:; *modelof restraintand aste.fi-qpüI
expect rom a masterof his m H X.[Note:TheThird World s sr d H r:well-known compositions. hrr q* -with the often pejorativeOesry fn Icertaincountriesandpopulabmr llf !H}AmericaandEurope.n Hertier¡ÉCr
lÜ*Thirdworld is theEngrishrarda f*Organum,"a term devisedby tfr tF ; IOuspensky.l
Evenwhenhis healthwasf:ihttran
see hathewasweakand n pain- rffif:
walk,andashewalkedheslippedmedanceswith a lope. t justall weru qffi¡
conversation r whateverwash+q**setting. This particular day we y* tBatteryPark o theLowerEastSide-a¡rrrtnof Brook$n, the river and all. Thinhl r ;ithinking a hip thought I ventured: ¡Gfl tF
ffi
BrmklynBridge ure saworkofart.,,His areful$consideredeplywentsomethingike: ,,yes,thatr:.ightbe true,but now takethat one next to 1t,,,pocrting o theManhattanBridge,,,that,s much
becerbridge.',Hewassettingmeup for his own¡qson of thedozens, ut I hada choice: couldsg¡' -rrah,uh huh, and ust let it lay,or I could:¡¡c :hebaitand ry to run with it, whichmeant¡rcoihting a debateabout the relativemeritsf bridges or whatever) o seewho could out_}{strii rvhomand or how long.He oved o run!¡s rumber on people. t could start out veryq're of factandyou,dbe hinkingafterawhile,:$¡ass hat ustaboutexhaustshistopic.But hen* gke€paddinghings oprolong hediscussion,l{ f wouldstart o getmoreandmore ictional:r }ch sides.Tocompensateor this he wouldp¡Fcl!5 facialexpressionndtoneofvoicemoreE sre serious.Firstperson o crackwas the
* I'oumightstartout a littlemiffed,but he,d*rr ¡cu in stitchesbefore t was over.HewasiltAGs the gentlegiantof the put_on,or at thern *asr oneof its greatest ractitioners.
r 5e Failof '62,Herbiegot a call to go on affir¡s gigconsideredheworstby a few wholÍ ar.:aged to retumunscathed: laying n the{krs Clubof a h¡perboreanair forcebase.*¡rtr;rdland? Joel seemed o think it was*¡l¡and Themandatorystipulation:heremust* ¡ ta!'-¿le ocalist(for obvious easons).As IlHt 3rl "Bama,,Warwick was leader.Alsotn*.n': lou were there or a month.Herbie
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cameback from this thing with a terrible cold
(whichhe carriedwith him for the next four
months and then into the hospital)and he
described t as being completelyundersnoq
everything onnected ytunnelsandcold!Hedid
it for the bread,period.
Then t was back to his old niche,at the
Riviera.Hecalled rom hereonenightand nüted
me to come and sit in; that mav havebeenhis
swan song o that place.Wepla-red coupleof
his tunes whichhe rarelydidpublid¡r to a noiSy
andcompletely bliüous audierre
Then,a month beforehe rras :o go into thehospital,wewerepartyingn a oñdorntorvn and
Herbiehad veryonenthralledÍh adssertation
ononeof his avorite opics: l¡egrc o¡ Nikolai
Gogol.When hehushwas at i:s he€¡f thatwas
his cue o saygoodnight.As henas iearrnghe
took measideand casuall-var¡dc¡::rr a pieceof
music: This s for you.--it ilg: '¡t nr¡ worked
out on ayearor soago, oure¡rgig 5 { iime...l
think it's finishednow and nat.¡q¡:c travet.
It turnedout to be SomeWa*avg *:sc¡:ler¡ and
itbecamea themesong or&-q¡ bmrls that
had n the 60s.ForanotherünE * :n¡L a great
vehicle for the unusual sopras sar.cphone
playingof CharlesDavis.
On he othersideof thesanÉ .-r¡s:tpt wasanew revisedandextendedq.s a 7c kbop
Waltz(recordedby Mary Lou \rtibms 6 ttary's
Waltz).Next thing I knew I was 1rs€g him in
Kingsbridge .A.Hospital.Hewx !Érr:E he was
getting ransfusions, ndhe seemedo begetting
hisstrengthback.Andof coursehewas reading,
writing poetry music and seekingout chess
playersand other in-patientswith whom he
couldconverse.
Thena few days ater I got the call: "Come
quick, t doesn't ook good." He had been
transferred o the "vegetableward," and that's
when they informed him about his terminal
leukemia. was two hourstoo late, aswas the
restof theworld.
It was a military funeral.That struck me as
beingprettybizaneat thetime...uniformed urswith helmets, iflesand flags lankingHerb:e
coffin. n life he had been he quintesse:-.ce:
peaceand calm but, after all, he did p'u::: -':-<
t ime and he was ent i t led.But the cei: :s;
followingof family, riendsand musica.as-r¡r:¿:#
was well represented,o, if üewed ::':.a: ¡ ,
that finalscenewas a truepicture.u¡.*:s":r*:{
the juxtapositionof raw forces so 3:f,i i-,rr.l --
American ife. Filtered hrough :.:: ¡rr::-i
glasses,hemadness,ncongruin'a:.: -:a:---trr
it all stransformedo a stateof m::; *rc:: ::Ér?
is harmony,welcome, ntelligb."-:r¿:1:¿- :e
crazinessakeson a humorous *<;ñ: 'é'¡? t¡-l
trouble envisioningHerbies€¿:í; -,-rir"¡éri rÉ
piano, the personificationo: tra* s-d r*s.{integfity,surroundedby a rarx:¡*5,3;' :r :.-J3as,
banjos,armed orces, trippe:s :ú $si: -earing
collegekids chanting, Oh1t'.É. :r i¿:rts Go
Marching In," because . '¿: * . is is the
B1
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commonplace eality. Through Hcrb¡c l: ali
makessense.
Herbie always spoke ior-:nglyabot¡: !::s
brother,Austin. You'vegotto rrf,!Ét rs gttr bz
he's crazy like you, aw mai T?r So¡r:3' ::couldn'thavebeenmoreü¡ar ¡ É & *
funeral that therewas a knoú - il- ffi rc
dayand herestooda ven'ercfnd rffir rHir
Austinwasa smallerHerbÉ oct**' * *
outwardlyanimatedandefi¡s¡rc :ü- * FF
Coincidentallyhe was inruh*d G ffi¡ #
photo oumalismat El Diarb ú{rí! ür {F :r
the cornerfrom whereI livedr iF *
It seems hat before tler* t - *
hospital,he and Austinhadptrxf D lF r
party for someof the PeoPle* 5 ft
wantedto bring together.And ff * C r
the hospital, he madeAustinPtffi ll *
would follow through regarúÉf rf *
happened.t went off exactl.v ¡H* *might havebeen a sad and súq lil:'
Herbie'spartywithout He¡bie.uril * * *
somegood aughs.Wegot to r€ffitül
Herbie, boutsomeofhisclasskpr'c nt*
all just crackedup.
But therewas a private side!o ttl: f ¡
wonder f anyoneknew. t wasthn F-É *[
where the process of ameliorauc üt: {:
between is nner(TheThird)wortd l:Ü
world. Severaldecadesafter Hertli H ft
turned up one of Herbie's ast silt
manuscripts, songcalledVacaüon fE I
82
1957n hiscatalog;t comesclosesto anything
know in words concerning he inner Herbie
\ichols: 'Youarespecialantasies dreamednto
being...Pleasantriesnd ecstasies re ours to
design .Comes wakening, omesorsakingones* d:rine...We'reot meant o be...Seel"
Ttpre's a lot I'll neverbe able o write'down,
md l"m not sure how I was able to commit to
SFer the stuff that appearshere. But certain
Srgs stuck in my mind. Whytheseparticular
s¿rlections? And are they relevantenoughto
lc -tuded? Idon'tknow.Youdecide.You'llhave
:r Ftre this whole'thing together or yourself
riñcrr,' It's better that way.
My ownrnusic ravels eallybegan ome-
E = themid-60s:U,S. A., Canada ndWest-
iE Esope. n the courseof this25yearsor so,at
lprn a hundredpeoplehavecomeup tome want-
q - know anything I could tell them aboutffi Sichols,he composer. otHerbieNichols
* mel.. he raconteur, he humorist, hebon vi-
rmt : hismind);not HerbieNichols he world-
.*;{¿nist, the aceaccompanistat home n all
* :i music"who workedwith á wholerange
rf ¡rtd playersand singers--butHerbieNichols
*:r¡oser.
rl.'e many of his contemporariesdanced
lltr rav into people'sheartsunder cover of
mrt¡:ds (otherpeople'shits) or expressed
SsCves in simplistic ermswith bold-faced
¡r r*rbie Nichols,age 36,devotedhis first,
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biggest and only break to the documentation of
his own music, to the exclusion of everything
else.The ustification for Herbie,scommitment to
his own musicat all costsbecomesevenclearer
from looking at the personal catalogof his works(courtesyofjoelNichols).The ea¡liestentries, our
loveballads,date rom 1939, he final entriesare
dated 1961.The whole bod,i'of n'ork spans22
years and contains approximaielv l i0 different
titles.I'm only able o accouni for at¡oui 0 of them
inc lud ing29 recordedon Blue \c ie , t2 on
Bethlehem of which 7 were re.ea_:e¿ ¡.e Í,Vhose
Blueswith ChocolateWillians a:.: :'cu¡others,
including the dist inct ive J:-_< J S:ennell)
recordedby Mary Lou Willia::-s .r.=-,r -.-earsago,
membersof the HerbieNichc's :"=.:: :.-=overed
that the composerhad me';:;:,.*r--. :::..-righted
many of his works wiü üe I :l:a-1. :: -:ngress.
But these,plus the manrl-{:::.*r _::: :e .eft me,
add up to far less than ha.: :: ;.,:i: --: a:iuallywrote. The rest are ost an;. :: irsi--:ir:
Thecatalog lso ists : $r-.: :: :¿::. entry:ballad,march, tomp, huls t.¡rs .,, -z (3/4
&9/4), cal¡pso,mambo,a:,¡: r,rr.trr s1,,-ing,,rag,Caribe asha?I, tc..e: : -:,- ; ¡i_:i a nidevariety fapproaches.hea: o, .i _r,: ¡::s rand
Delilah, eaturingmixedvoicesandAfricanneeorchestrations, ut that,sall I remember.
During he time I knew him (the ast tn,o ::three earsofhis ife)Herbiewasseeking utu.ini
playersikeme.Hisconceptionor he ealizatic:"of his musicwas beyond he piano trio forrr,a:represented y his recorded egacyand r,,.asprobablyhisway all along.Muchof the mus;¡which inspiredhim from the beginning_b.,
Bartok,Prokofiev ndHindemith,n particula:_
wasorchestraln scope.Hehadstudied ndk¡e,,r.theirworks intimately n the contextof its or.,.:"realization:he Westernorchestra. hus ¡-. ..sown mind'searhe heardmanyof hiscrea:.::played ystrings ndwoodwinds. econ:.::: :me that he had beenscoringhis ptr--:,: l"classical"nstrumentsor some ime :.-:r: ., rtrail gets eallycold: hereareno iu::::. , :relating o anyof this n his persor.:. . . .i
elsewhere.Thankfully here are ii:.. i: . . -recordings anda very few oii.::: . -
surviving oems noscenarios : . :" , .,-","¡of) and hemusicmanuscripts
D¡rnamicsListenlDeeply ndspec:i:::
nuanceevelof hearing.f .
will meet you more tha:.
perhaps he biggestprc:.
appreciationfhismusic :
hiskindof quietand h:-,.
thisknowledgereallyhurts,l¿ : ^r - :i.::alf of headphonesf necessary, r.: :, .".hiscompositions,ncluding .:.c *-,:
lyricsl 'm embarrassedosa-\-.,_-_,
Herbie'snics: tady SingsheE.;:
Blues.Weoncesatand istene¿:
acetateof two 'cal¡psos',Crack;:
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but masked out. He never Ero:i:.ce: :,e :a:r-, -:
ever, orced.The thrills in l::s :-a-,::.¡ 3:r a-'(-. .
the result of a masterful res::a::-: it¡:€:f -:,--::i
of words (so to speak) s a.:i ::¡: --:lJr::-:-
than the size(o r
color)ofüe::::: :
i i.r¡t.
..1i n t e n s i t ymuch more ak : : : - - : - : - - ¡ Í r : . :
tradition of "chamber mus:; e: : :,:s . r.-r:--"
in direct opposition to the es'-:f,r: :r ¡--r:,.-r--
pop.But there s definitelr'á*,rér-r: :i:'i? '.:::
it's just a good dealmore sub'-e3:,: :r-:'.-.lt-r :.r-
that of the mainstream.Her:: S ¡*.¡r:r-r ¡¡r: ¿
reliel a high relief, and thei' i€:r ¡.rr i -r:rl:
aspectsof his music.
MelodyPlayingand studying rvrth i:,?-,r r rrtgÉ:.',
redefinedthisaspectofmusic :r:r ': :l*r.ii
to what is more popularl-r' r: .- sr :*r:r¡¡ic.
melody, and for those familia: ¡t--- ¡r: '!u*:ri
it's saidto begin with Jimm¡'X]lr'r
-.r*r ñ!-i
and Bird (andmany others,I'rn s:: rJ r r:rnr::
really is an emphasis on narrc*r i'r¡rr*¡ !:
melodic construction,not to thr::tj !.r- ¡.i¡n:n
of wide intervals, but just a =:.:r :.¡:r. ,:ri-::
exploitationof2nds and even 3rcs + irrlnr ¡ r.¡*,.
of cutting sideways through tc.,a $*r *rt
something on the order of a ñne.-¡ r:rl=i :¡n#
This gives a melody an innate, t';-: :' i;¡¡¡t :r
horizontal thrust. The oblique apprc€ ¡¡ñ t*
whole "geometr¡/'of melody.The :-¿-::r Srl¡F
of this kind of line can verge on the :r-:rfrilr
oíordinaryspeech and conversation.3ii :i* :
: : : :rposit ions and his elaborations of them
a:.:und with this kind of "talk." It's a lot easier o
a:i.:e¡.'e uchpattems with voice,slide, or other
::::-essspecies, ut to accomplish his on a dead-
i=: ::sial instrument ike pianorequirescomplete::s:31.'of thekeyboard nd onalspaceaswell.
-=:cie hadhis own melodicvocabulary.There
:-'. s:ne pretty universal licks in bop that never
- " :-= ;e in his playing-just one more reason for'-r 'i:scpularity, but for the serious listener, all'.i€ :..tr€ reason o get inside his melodiesand
iff .,..:.atmakesthem tick. And yet his playing is
' :i',,,:tl thebluesl
Rh-vthm
::::bie'splaying chieveslearandsolid* :.-:.:cprecisionsinga lighter-than-usual! ' ' : :-(. His touch was more like that of Bil ly
];:: ,: ::n, Natcole or HankJones: gentlebut oh
'-;r." Heplaysacross he whole rhythmic:;'r:r:-:.l, everythingrom parlando ubato (the
::1::.:.: groupingsn meter,and does t all by:.:.¡ i rhisown word)as opposedo striking.
'',- :.:e he treated he piano ike he treated* :i.i:::'rg elsen his ife-with a lot of loveand
slr --::.. In the morestraightaheadbop-style
:-ri:¿its rvhere he emphasiss on right hand
1':. -:s:ng n eighthnoteswith spaced-out{r it i .:. the left,Herbie's ay of phrasing nd
r-. "*:::ngeighth otess ikenobody lse,s.t,s
¡ ;-r-r.átionof askipanda ope, hesameway
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he'd sometimeswalk down the street. The
rhythmic relationship betweenthe handswas
acrossheboard oo.Everythingromblockchord
unison o completepolyrhythmicndependence.
As aprofessional
ccompanistnd sideman,
hecouldprovidewhateverwas deemed ppropriate:
rag,stride,boogie, arrelhouse; utwithhis own
music it was toward a more economic¡l style,
distilling the olderapproaches oun to a more
minimal use of the left hand. But tlte amazing
thing is whenyou watchedhrs e* handon the
keyboardasheplayed-t rnoted a¡q¡nd.hovering,
more than you could actua.il- hear He wasghostingor acting out a i* ü lrs¡És but really
soundingonly certain chotc rc And now I
wonder aboutall tlte tnorr€fr:s * hs recordings
where keys were deprcsssdr. :!tc ieft hand
without actuallysoundrng ¡;S fr srmpathetic
vibrations generateda;cr¡*;5] i* the right
hand.Herbieknew hs
¡{*rs*t-A favorite rhythmx "et str?+:¡ deüce is
that of fragmentation.?*tr *1 gf$ oÍfa piece
of melodyhe's ust creaÉd *t ilFal.zse it over
the beat until it evolvescr s€gts *to sornething
else...orust eavest irgng it*g:.he jobof
resolution to the left hat. *$:F sextion or
listener'smind.Oftenw lr1 wte sucha
fragment by rephras;rg f lnr :!= ¡cter anddisplacingheaccentsa:Efuq* rer.¡ e ustas
apt to find n speech rd Fot4
Another way henn*¡:s * # rork" for
delaying)he onsetof a whole sectionby a beat
or two,pushing he bar inesaround,buildingup
an incredibleamount of suspense,hen adding
(or subtracting)he expended eats ight at the
climax. It sounds ike Herbie s dislocating heform. It's a very compositionalway of playing
around with the l istener's and the other
players'orientations.
The obvious sourceof much of Herbie's
rhythmic vocabulary s in the movementsof
dancers, ight off the taps of the hoofersand
tattoosofthegreatdrummers.Headmitsasmuch
and many of his songsare dedicated o therhythmicistswho inspiredhim.
HarmonyIts a gratifying event whenever somebcrc"; *<
able to exert his own special influence cue: :ie
polyphonic system. To go a step furlhe: ¡:":
establish apermanent
identity in the !:;:=,:r-:dimension puts one in a class with thse :*as:*:
composers who are instantly r€ccer-:r-:-- r=*
virtue of harmonic choice alone TLs :r--:;s;:¡s
domain ruled by such high pr:es:: :r ll.-r=
Ellington,TheloniousMonk,John l:,-:¡:€ **l:-
Taylor, Gil Evans, Charles Ming.;-<!,t-.* lt;¡-¡:s
GeorgeRusselland Carla Ble_r'
Herbie'sapproach o harrn*=. =: : :m*l-¡
it's ustright. The same ndir:c--:, -r g:rsÍs.in
dynamics, melody and rl i : : :- *: l t€s to
harmony. Not only did he irs:HT :;r rcadily
available sources like the '--- rr::tl ¡op andn a larger sca* :t + ffi{4a:ing (or
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classicalmusicsof this century,but throughhis
private research,he traveledback in tirne and
explored he modal harmonyand figuredbass
eras of Westernmusic. Thesebaecaltl' lir¡ear-
orientedtextures helped him to ñrrtlEr dcwúmthe kind of open lexiblespace hat cq¡ld eüt
large amountsof harmonic in¡roraa: ¡rf¡q.l
lossof horizontality.
Harmonyasa functionof meloQ' Ímet5tr
(broken-up)harmony.There'sall s:,*a :É
variegatedharmony n Herbie's üpqg e
improvising: armonicsubstitutiors,s¡frcr
alterations, xtensions,nversiors" gm,clustershi-midlo, but all in the serrn? ú *
melody.Mostpianoandpolyphonic xx *!
chord progressions eing cranke{ fif * |
melodic ine superimposedn top l: * gF
way aroundwith Herbie;his "hrocr# *
third side) is predominantlyscale-¡off
(melodyo harmony) ather thand¡aü.o.*Highdensity exturesare usedby drre -F
than by dictate of common pracr* n r
hymnody). But he was a very scnsllri rt
supportive omper,a wonderfirlconpcr. ,lll:
listen to his bass inesl Sure heyG ffit
and earth-bound, ut they're eallybc *
OrchestrationIn Herbie's ngenious, arelypr!il lf -
orchestration he has really succea*l *
integrating he piano into the bassand th
Withmostpiano rio music,bassanddrumsplay
offandbehindwhat hepianist sdoing,and hey
all eventuallyget their breaksand solos,etc. It
can and doeswork thisway too,but whenI hear
:he piano comingout of the drumsand thatpercussive asswork putting the final bond on'$e drums-to-piano onnection, know I,m n for
scct organic rialogue.
Flerbie ada thoroughknowledgeabout he
*r,¡scal resources f smallnumbers.Many of his
*mal friendships ere n factduets.Like,he,d
rrs¡: rour home one day and it would be a
:mt¡ination rehearsal ndhangingout, awayto
bq ¡eamingand ryingout newthingswith other
¡ede--different voices,differentnstruments-
rfu -rrcu on'thave remuneration for formal
mcr'ül-v of a full band.Muchmusic s bornand
*l'cpeO thisway- "rehearsingust for the hell
d f-and theprice s right.
Ielodyl¡an]' of Herbie'smelodiesare purelyvocal;
trir re singable ndmeant o besung.LadyDay
Édup on this, and thusLadySings he Blues.
* r:lre convolutedmelodiesmove nto faster
Qos thedemandsbecome oredigital,more
fFtl¡-¡€ntal. However,one thing is consistent
-*ghout andthat is the underlyingcall -and-
rryffis€ construction n all of his melodies-
Steen subphrases, etween phrasesand
*!cen sections. t' s verv classical n the
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universalsenseof the term. There'salways a
complement, lwaysa rounding-off;t's as f he's
carryingon a conversationwith himself or maybe
it's differentpeoplecarryingon conversations.
Thesesubphrases, hrasesand sectionsareindeeddifferentvoicesconversingwith, and
callingand espondingo, oneanother. hat back
and orth," hatqualityof exchange,s ndeedhe
modelof socialityand basic communication
which HerbieNichols'music s. With hisconcept
in mind,one can hear and feel he overall orms
of his songs and the wa-vhe develops hem
throughhis mprovisations.
Form
Aside from the marvelous ntros, alternate
endings, ags, umarounds,etc., thinkyou will
discover or yourself hat Herbie'scommitment
is to the AABA Go Rhythmstructure.nvariably,an A-section calledchorus)s repeated, sually
with a slightlydifferentending(A2), ollowedby
a Bsection r bridge also alledelease),ollowed
by a single epriseof the A sectionwith a ,,final,,
ending (A3).Herbiewrote his shareof t2-bar
bluesand other"short' forms"but basedon the
evidence, t appears hat 1 Got Rhythm s hispreferredorm.Finding he "rightrelease"was a
particular compositional preoccupation.
Neverthelesshis form is his freedom.He deals
with it imaginatively,skillfully, eloquently.
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Disco$aphyHerbieNicholsTtio:Love,GInm, @r, L* Fcürhñcrrl
I .TooCloseForComfort; .EveryCh¡t 3_A¡8Uutative ; 4. Love,Gloom,Cash, ove; S.portraitof ucha; 6' BeyondRecall;7. a[ rffiy ; & {i qtee Angle;9. InfatuationEyes;10.s,crazypad
TheComplete lue NoteRrcordirgse IüDisc I l. The ThirdWorld;2. The fH H *nate rake);3. StepTémpest; . DanceLine;5. BlueChopsticks; .DoubleEgm ¡E *l'; 7.DoubleExposure; .Cro-MagnonNights;9. Cro-MagnonNights(alternate& te. f út fepen (altemateake);I t. Amoeba,sDance;
12'BrassRings altemateake); 3-bt] n zm skiddoo alternateake); s. 2300skiddooDisc2 l' ShuffleMontgomery a*-G,2. tr Didn't Happen;3. crisp Day;4. shuffleMontgomery; ' The Gig;6.ApPbiar rE *e t); 7. Hangover fiangle;8.LadysingsTheBlues;9. Chit chatting; 10.Hor¡se -r:; ll- The Gig (alternateake);12.Furthermore(alternate ake l); 13.FurthermqnR,t rlrt $reet (alternate ake); 15. llTth street;16.Sunday troll
Disc3 t. Nick At T's; Z. purtlrermfts *e 4;3. Terpsichore; ,Orse At Safari;5.Applejackin(alternatetake2|;6.ü#.rI*mower;8.Mine(altematetake);9.Mine;
l0' Trio; I I Trio(altemateake); ¿ tHr;- lb 6ltemate take);13.Thespinningsong ;I4' RiffPrimitif;15.Riff Primitif (attcilF* I fy (altemateake); 7.euery
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At tfr. time of thiswriting, HerbieNichols,music sbeingplayedmore haneverbeforeand his trendhasyet
to reach ts peak.There s an upcomingwave of youngimprovisersn their twentieswho are cutting heir teethon this musicall over the pranetl I find this particurarlygratiffing because lovehis melodies,ovehearing hemplayedandelaborated pon.MishaMengelbergndhisco-conspiratorsn Europe eginning ack n the aterg7o,swerepioneering lorious andarrangementsf Herbie,sBlueNote Mosaic)ndBethlehempolydor) iano riore_cordings. rankKimbrough ndhisassociateseganheir
))e,rb)e,)Da2s.ZaTeclrrzffCñ (ñehte l9g0s andhavesteeredhe cou¡sen the utestsense: uted romexist-ing recordingss€archedhe LibraryofCongressor cop_ies of the n:a::;scriptsHerbiemeticulouslycopyrightedfrom da-r, :.e :: his output;and createdwonderfully n_spired n:e=:e:a::onsbaseduponthis careful esearch.Buell
Ne:i.:-:;e.-n.ho layedwíthHerbíeín he ateS0,s,cameou: .¡r::: s:::.ieverydistinc ive and dventurous n_terpretalc:_<.: re mid ,90,s.DuckBaker ecorded CDof Herb:e ::.::.:sjfibns arrangedn hisrnimitablestlef adr.ar:e: :_:;enickingguitar n D96.I ha:e :-: ::.::e of Herbie,s usicwill bediscoveredand ha: =s:,:,:< -<
Nichor-s: :É: , )jj[Hj:: o.**ing,oraHerbie
1
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