From: rshapiro@arris.com (Richard Shapiro)
Subject: Herbie Nichols
Organization: ARRIS Pharmaceutical, South San Francisco, CA
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 92 22:51:28 GMT

Following an enthusiastic recommendation from our own Sandeep, I
decided it was time to order the Herbie Nichols Blue Note collection
from Mosaic. My my my, what extraordinary music! How could I have gone
so long without having heard any of this before? 

Nichols is one of the *great* composing piano players to come out of
bebop, along with Bud Powell, T Monk and a few others. But, for
reasons which are unclear to me, he was never able to sell many
records, and consequently he had very few recording dates as a leader:
5 sessions for Blue Note, nicely collected on the Mosaic set, from
1955-56; one earlier, less distinguished date for Savoy; and one later
date for Bethlehem (reissued on Affinity; both versions now out of
print) which I haven't heard.  So, aside from the Bethlehem session,
the Mosaic set collects virtually everything of importance that
Nichols recorded as leader (Mosaic wanted to include the Bethlehem
material, but, sadly, they were unable to do so for legal reasons). As
usual, the remasterings are top notch and the accompanying booklet is
an excellent source of documentation.  Well worth the $45 for 5 lps
(or 3 cds).

These are all trio sessions, with either Blakey or Roach on drums, and
a couple of bass players whose names slip my mind just now (Al
McKibbon, maybe?). All original compositions, except for a couple of
takes of a Gershwin tune. And what compositions! Wonderfully subtle
melody; surprising, unexpected harmony that's nonetheless always
"right"; and a very individual but still swinging sense of rhythm.
This may sound like a description of Monk, and Nichols has sometimes
been dismissed as a Monk imitator. But the two are really quite
different. Nichols does not have the heavy stride influence, or the
peculiar humor of Monk, and his unusual harmonies and sense of rhythm
aren't quite as immediately striking as Monk's -- Nichols never sounds
downright weird the way Monk sometimes does. He has greater subtlety
though, and he's a much more fluid and melodic soloist -- a wonderful
improviser, in fact.

The only "flaw" with a box of Nichols is that he keeps within a fairly
restricted dynamic range, and this tends to give the overall feel of
his recordings a certain evenness -- no jagged edges here -- and to
some extent a certain sameness. I could easily imagine a listener
numbing out if he or she listened to the whole set, all the way
through; or growing bored if he or she wasn't paying fairly close
attention. I'd recommend no more than 2 sides per session -- you have
to *listen* to this music to fully appreciate it, and it's hard to
maintain that level of concentration for much longer than that.

To sum up: buy this set if you have any interest at all in modern jazz
piano.  And send me a tape of the Bethlehem record if you happen to
own a copy :)


Mosaic records can only be ordered directly from them:

 203-327-7111
 203-323-3526 (fax)

 35 Melrose Place
 Stamford CT 06902-7533

I have no connection blah blah blah. I just give them my money from
time to time, and they give me back the most amazing music...